Stand Against The Evil : The Black Magician Returns
by Hyakuman no Itami
Summary: The Maple World is being attacked by people claiming to serve a long-defeated enemy. A young bandit takes on the role of the world's savior and makes friends and enemies. But what if that's not what he's meant to be? Rated T for violence and language.
1. Prologue

The once peaceful town of Henesys is engulfed in flames. Screams can be heard as the villagers run about the town, either trying to escape or calling frantically for their friends and loved ones. A nearby house crumbles into dust, revealing the source of the mayhem. All over the town, an army of Stone Golem's are destroying everything in their path.

The town's defense, lead by Athena Pierce, have assembled and tried to kill these threats to their home, but for some reason, their arrows bounced harmlessly off the golem's rock armor. It seemed as if they were empowered by some unknown dark force. As soon as Athena realized this, she noticed that she was the last one standing; all her members and students had been struck down by the unstoppable force. She kept fighting, and carefully took great aim and power, directing her arrows to the small orb of energy connecting the golem pieces together. However, she slowly felt herself getting exhausted, and soon dropped to her knees.

As she started losing her vision, she made out two figures walking towards her, both clad in hooded robes. The larger one, which she assumed was male, slowly looked around to see the chaos caused, and laughed.

"So, this is the power he holds, huh? Hah, we didn't even have to lift a single finger."

"Don't get all cocky, this one's still alive", his female companion noted.

"Oh, really? Well, that can be changed in just a second."

The male figure raised his arm, revealing a pistol held in his hand. Athena desperately cast one last spell as the man took aim and fired. An eagle swooped down and grabbed the Bow Master by the shoulders, and immediately took off. The bullet missed her by mere inches, and she felt it cut across the wind next to her face. As she ascended, her vision became darker. She got one last view of her town, her home before losing consciousness. Destroyed and in flames, and she was unable to do anything about it.

The two cloaked personnel watched her fly away.

"Eh, you can't get 'em all the time", the man shrugged, to which the woman scoffed, and closed her eyes and spoke with her mind to someone.

_"My master, the mission is complete. Soon, the whole of the Maple World will know of your return."_

**Good...It seems my power...has finally returned...**

Many miles away, in the floating city of Orbis, a 17 year old teenager awakes with a start.

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**Author's Notes : **_Gosh, I don't know why everyone does these author's notes things. In any case, I'll be starting this fanfic, please go easy on me as it's my first ever written fanfiction. Please review anyway though, constructive criticism is what i need, and you, my readers, are what I need to keep this story going. I promise, later chapters will be longer, this is more of an introduction than anything._

**_D_ISCLAIMER : **MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.**  
**


	2. Journey to Victoria

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

**_THIS IS A REMAKE OF CHAPTER 2, IN COURTESY OF THE 21 BLUE DUDES. HOPE IT'S A LITTLE BETTER THAN IT WAS. ORIGINALLY, THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE ADVENTURERS AND THE CROGS WAS NOT DESCRIBED IN ANY WAY. HOPE YOU ENJOY._**

* * *

High above the icy town of El Nath, in the clouds where Orbis exists, a young male awakens with a jump. He takes a second to regain his bearings and recall his purpose of being where he was. He was in Orbis, the beautiful flying city of Ossyria Island. He had been staying here for the past few months with his uncle. During this time he learned about many things, from the history of the Maple World, to the wonders of combat. Many people had risen to fame for their skills in slaying monsters and protecting the people. One day, he was going to be one of them. But to do that, he will have to start learning new skills from the various job instructors. Because of this, he had gone to the station with his uncle to take a ship to Victoria Island. However, the ship had been delayed due to an apparent raid on the ship by Crimson Balrogs, and he had fallen asleep.

He rose from the bench he had fallen asleep on, and headed to the bathroom. As he walked past the mirror, he stopped and looked at himself. He was a lean guy, about 5"9, with brown unkempt hair that reached down to his shoulders. He was wearing boots with a typical pair of jeans and a shirt under a leather jacket. His face generally gave an emotionless look to him, but the shocking thing about him were his eyes. They almost glowed with a brilliant shade of green.

Looking at his reflection, he recalled something that his uncle said to him once.

"See, kid, not many people can become heroes like the ones you hear in stories, and even less can look the part. You...don't really look the part, cause most of the heroes in stories are big, buff people with massive armor and even bigger swords. Still, those eyes of yours...they tell me that you're going to do great things, kid."

He, for one, did not care for his looks, although all his (mostly female ) friends generally agreed he was a "cute stud".

Scoffing at the thought, he left the bathroom and heard an announcement that seemingly came from nowhere, yet loud enough to be heard all around the station.

"Attention, ladies and gentlemen. The ship to Ellinia of Victoria Island is now ready for boarding. Please display your identification card before boarding the ship. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for flying with us."

_Like we have a choice_, he thought, before moving to the departure hall. A woman in a uniform asked him for his identification card when he arrived, and he passed a thin card to her out of his wallet. On it was a photo of him and his details.

Name : Trane Koroshio  
Class : Beginner  
Guild : -none-

He hated how his card looked. The word "Beginner" made him feel very unexposed to the world and unable to protect himself against any danger. In other words, lame. Soon, he thought, things won't be that way.

He got onto the ship and decided to sit on the outside levels of the ship, assuming that there wouldn't be another attack. About ten minutes into the flight, however, he let slip a silent curse through his lips. Another ship, one with tattered sails and a frame seemingly made of bones, was rapidly sailing towards their ship. The other inexperienced people stared in shock before fleeing into the safety of the protected cabin. Several other passengers clad in armor readied themselves, some drawing their swords and bows, while others concentrated and readied spells. Trane decided to stay up top with them.

As soon as the ships got within range, three Crimson Balrogs flew out of their ship and onto the other. The armed adventurers sprang into action, igniting a battle filled with slashes, arrows, and elemental spells flying about. However, he was mesmerized by the skill of all the defenders of the ship. Thus, it did not occur to him to retreat to safety.

On the front lines, were various warriors of different classes. There were the swordsmen, swinging wildly but with good accuracy and excellent control. Next to them were the spearmen. Although slower than their sword wielding allies, they also struck with deadly aim and power. Also, there were a few that held maces and hammers. Being ridiculously slow but insanely strong, they served as the main defense, blocking the massive claws of the beasts with little effort. They spun around the winged beasts, some swinging almost recklessly, but many cracks and damages could be seen appearing on the monster's armor.

Joining them every few seconds were the thieves. Every once in a while, a blur could be seen darting in and out of the fray, gracefully dodging the attacks and weaving through the chaos. Every time a bandit passed one of the Crimson Balrogs, a sharp sound could be heard, and it would grimace in pain, but would be unable to see what hit it. The assassins were also leaping about the battle, staying out of range of the beasts and throwing their stars with rapid speed and accuracy.

Around the sidelines were the mages. The offensive wizards would cast powerful spells, some launching flaming arrows from a bow made of willpower, and some simply waving their wands and seemingly freezing the water in the sky, forming ice shards and raining it down on their opponents, teleporting away when the were close to danger. The clerics were the medical support of the lot, casting holy magic and instantly healing the wounds on the injured.

At the back of the group were the archers. Armed with their bows and crossbows, they fired many shots in quick succession, using their great accuracy and precision to direct their arrows to the chinks and gaps in the beasts' armor.

Trane noticed one of the warriors in particular. He had long blond hair that was split into two ponytails on either side of his shoulders, and was wearing an odd viking hat, no shirt and a green kilt-like bottomwear. He also held in his hand a massive axe. He caught Trane's attention because he had just jumped right up to one of the Crimson Balrogs, and headbutted it. His strength must have been amazing, because the beast flew backwards, crashing several feet away from Trane. The man didn't seem to notice him, because he switched his focus on fighting the other two.

He took a look at the downed beast, and was amazed at how accurately these monsters were displayed in the books he read. They were huge, about four times his size. With their big bull-like faces, large leathery wings and battle-worn armor, he could tell that these were way beyond his league of even trying to fight it. As if to prove his point, it starting getting up, looking confused, and very angry.

As he slowly tried to make his way to the cabin door, it gave a loud roar. Startled, he looked at it, and realized it was looking right back at him with it's red eyes.

As panicked as he was, this thing was blocking his path to the safety of the cabin. Trane took a steady battle stance, shifting his feet slightly and raising his arms to waist height.

He ran towards it, and kicked it as hard as he could. Suddenly feeling a sharp pain in his leg, he jumped backwards immediately. Wincing, he wondered how strong this thing could actually be. He had a good idea that he would probably not survive one hit from it.

_Don't hit it, but don't get hit either. Survive._

Survive. That was the only goal of him attempting this. The Crimson Balrog looked at him and snorted, as if laughing at the thought of this green as grass kid trying to take it on alone. It gave another roar, and swiped one of it's massive claws at him. Trane saw the attack coming and jumped over it, flipping and landing on his feet. Being in a city that was high up above the clouds, he had learned the importance of balance in life, and now it truly proved useful.

He dodged the next few swings, but with each jump and step he made, he felt the pain in his leg get worse, and felt himself slowing down and his limbs getting less responsive. Ducking under another wild swing, he tripped. Before he could get back to his feet, the Crimson Balrog swung it's claws downwards, towards his head. He flinched, but he did not feel his head getting crushed, so he opened his eyes. The beast's massive fist had slammed against the ground, miraculously missing him.

_Gosh, what luck!_

The beast seemed to be enraged that it could not hit this boy, and flew upwards to charge a black ball of energy and destroy the pest. Trane was waiting for something like this, and the moment the creature flew out of the path between him and the door, he jumped to his feet and made a dive towards it, got inside and slammed the door just as it fired, making a muffled explosion sound from outside the cabin. Many of the passengers inside were staring at him, in both surprise and in awe. No one had expected someone as inexperienced as him to survive out there. One guy in particular came up to him.

"Man, you actually survived out there? Did they see you? Well, even if they didn't, that's still fuckin wicked, y'know?"

Trane eyed him for a few moments. The man was a little taller than he was, and he had short blond spiky hair and brown eyes. On his face he wore a confident grin, and laugh lines showed that he was generally a happy man. Not the kind of man Trane would usually talk to, but whatever, he thought.

"Yeah, one of them tried taking a few swipes at me, but I dodged them."

This very line earned him wide eyes and dropped jaws from everyone in the cabin who had heard him. Trane had this uncanny habit of just saying things without beating around the bush. A very matter-of-fact tone, too.

Even though he said this like it was nothing, he could feel the pain from his leg catching up to him. Limping, he inched to a nearby chair and passed out on it.

Several minutes later, he woke up, and the same man who had talked to him earlier noticed him and spoke.

"Hey, the guys outside say it's safe to go out now. And one of them wants to talk to you."

He nodded, and made his way outside. His leg felt a lot better, like as if the chair he had sat on was a special, like...a relaxer, or something. When he exited the cabin, he saw the adventurers from before, some panting from the long battle, others moving around and healing injuries. Several of them noticed Trane, and nodded and smiled at him in acknowledgment. The kilt-wearing guy with the strong head walked up to him and shook his hand

"My name's Olaf. You must be the one that held his own against a Crog, huh?"

"I am."

"Well, good on you, kid. I ain't never seen someone so young who could move that fast. Where'd you learn to move like that?"

"I didn't."

"Ah, then it's a personal skill, huh? Well, with that kind of speed, and I'm guesing luck, you could be an excellent thief!"

A thief. The class which relies on speed and dexterity to exploit the enemies weakness and strike it down as quickly as possible. He liked how it sounded.

"Could you tell me how I could become a thief?"

"Oh, that's easy. When we land, take a taxi to Kerning City and head to the bar. There's a secret entrance that'll lead you to the hideout of the instructor, Dark Lord."

"...His name is Dark Lord?"

"He likes that name. I wouldn't question it in front of him if I were you, unless you want a shuriken in your face."

"...I understand."

Just then, Victoria Island came into view. The ship pulled into the Ellinia docks, surrounded by overly large trees. As the passengers filed up to leave the ship, the spiky haired blond from before walked up to him.

"Hey, I didn't get to introduce myself before. The name's Roy."

"Trane."

"So I hear you're gonna be a thief, huh? It'll suit your speed."

"I am. And what about you?"

"Me? I'm thinking about headin over to Perion, learn the way of the warrior, and all that."

"Oh."

"...You don't talk much, do you?"

"Not really."

Roy, sensing that the conversation wouldn't really be getting anywhere else, decided to remain silent. Upon reaching the taxi stands, they said goodbye to each other, and agreed to meet sometime in the near future. As Trane entered the taxi, he wondered how life would be, and if he could actually become a hero.

"Kerning City, please."

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**Author's Notes : **Well, here's Chapter 2! In this chapter we see the main character, his personality, and his new friend. I put Olaf in cause he's always the guy who would grin and give you directions on the job instructor's locations. As before, read and review, please! =) I'll come up with Chapter 3 as soon as I can.

Next time : Arrival to a city, a fight with a man on the ceiling?


	3. Duel with the Dark Lord

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

The taxi ride was boring enough. There were no new sights to see, as this was the place he had grown up in since he was a child. He still remembered his first time here, when he got off the ship from Maple Island. He was so fascinated by anything and everything, and would travel to all the different paths of the various cities, seeing adventurers of all classes and dreaming to be one of them someday. Although that dream still proves true, he had begun to find the vastness of the island to be not such a special place. Even now, as the taxi sped along the rocky cliffs of Perion...wait. Perion?

"Excuse me, but why are we taking this route? It's longer than going through Henesys."

The driver looked back at him through the mirror. "The road to Henesys has been closed off. Didn't you hear about the attack?"

Trane was surprised. Henesys had been attacked? As far as he knew, Henesys was the most peaceful city in the entire island. How could this have happened? And who would have done such a thing?

"Apparently not. Could you tell me about it?"

The driver seemed hesitant, and Trane got the idea that it wasn't a very pretty story.

"A few days ago, some Stone Golems suddenly gathered up and launched a full-out assault on the town. Because it was early in the morning, not many people were awake, but even then, the guards weren't able to see them until it was too late. The golems just started smashing the houses, and killing the townspeople. Most of the villagers escaped, but not all of them were lucky. Athena Pierce and some other archers tried to stop them, but reports say that only a few golems were taken down. It's assumed that the archers were defeated, and Athena...was nowhere to be found. She's still missing as we speak."

Trane processed this story in silence for a few moments. There were too many questions too ask, but he knew most of them couldn't be answered, not by this man. So he settled on asking,

"How's the town now?"

"Ah, some adventurers have tried going to the town to try and recover any survivors and gather information. However, it seems that there's a strange barrier or something that prevents them from going in too far. When they do, they just seem to pass out and only recover when they're out of the area."

"Are the golems still there?"

"I'm not too sure. We can't really find out till they get the barrier down. Anyways, that's all I know about this, sorry."

"Hm."

The rest of the ride went in silence. He knew he would not get anything else out of this man, but he was helpful nonetheless.

Soon, they arrived in Kerning City, full of noise and people as usual. He got out and paid the man the fee. As he walked in the city, he saw that there were much more people here than there used to be. _Probably refugees from the attack, _he thought. He reached the bar, and entered it, the door ringing a bell as it opened. Inside was an average bar, with a short bartender at the counter. Trane walked up to him.

"What'll it b...you're a little young to be in here, aren't ya, kid? I don't serve minors, so you might wanna leave."

Trane just looked at him with his bored but brilliant eyes. "..."

"Oh. Ohhh...", the bartender's eyes widened in understanding. "I see what you mean, then." His eyes shifted around, and Trane noticed several other customers, apparently oblivious to the true nature of this bar.

"Well, like I said, kid. I don't serve minors. But uh, if you wanna use the BATHROOM, be my guest. It's in the back. Second cubicle from the left is the best one."

As Trane started to move, the bartender called out to him.

"Oh, you might need this. He does things a bit differently now", he muttered, and handed him a fruit knife. Trane assumed he used this to cut the fruits for his martinis, but why would he need this? Regardless, he kept the knife and entered the bathroom. He walked to the second cubicle and looked around for a secret entrance of some sort. He was expecting something special, like a secret door, but found nothing of that sort. Then he peered into the toilet bowl, and saw that it was in fact a narrow tunnel, with a ladder.

_Lovely._

How could this be a secret entrance? What if you got stuck? What if someone really had to take a crap in here? What if...you got stuck, THEN someone had to take a crap in here?

Burying the thought, he decided to just jump down the ladder, instead of holding onto it and climbing. He landed with a thump, secretly grateful it wasn't a squish. He looked around his new surroundings. He appeared to be in a boxing ring of some sort. Looking closer, he saw some dried blood on the floor and walls. But, where was this Dark Lord?

As if to answer the question in his mind, a voice from the ceiling spoke, surprising him.

"And what are you here for?"

Trane looked up, and saw a man dressed in a ninja-styled outfit. His face was covered by a mask, showing only his eyes. He was wearing a red scarf and had bat wings protruding from his back. The oddest thing, was that this man was standing up. On the ceiling. Upside down.

"You know why I'm here."

Dark Lord raised an eyebrow at the response.

"It's not so simple to become a thief. Especially not now."

"Why?"

"I'm sure you've heard about the attack on Henesys. I'm too busy now to train you from the beginning."

"Why?"

"I can't be bothered to explain."

"So what happens now?"

Dark Lord eyed him for a moment, then said, "You take a test. If you fail, you die, or leave if you survive. If you pass, I'll make you a thief."

"What kind of test?"

Dark Lord dropped from the ceiling, and suddenly flipped around and landed on his feet, like some deformed cat with bat wings. Without saying a word, he drew a dagger from his side, and got into a battle stance.

"Ah. That kind of test."

In a reply, Dark Lord dashed towards him, taking him by surprise. He moved his head back enough to just dodge the knife, missing his neck by inches. Before he realized it, he received a hard kick to hit stomach, sending him flying and knocking the wind out of him. He did a flip and recovered, taking out the fruit knife from earlier. As he landed, Dark Lord dashed towards him again. This time, he parried the blow, earning a raised eyebrow from Dark Lord. He countered with a several quick slashes of the knife, which Dark Lord dodged easily, then returned with his own flurry of attacks. For a while they carried this sequence, and Trane was surprised to realize; was Dark Lord getting slower? He could start to see the swings more easily, and mark out the minuscule holes in Dark Lord's defence. Dark Lord seemed to notice this too, and after another clash of their blades, he flipped backwards, out of reach.

Trane thought for a second that it was over, but before that second ended, Dark Lord disappeared from his view. He knew what was happening. Dark Lord had just launched an assaulter right at him. He was going to die without even seeing what hit him. He closed his eyes and dived backwards, knowing that he would not be able to block this attack.

_Haste._

Trane's eyes snapped open at hearing that line. It wasn't said by him, but it definitely came from his mind. Upon opening his eyes, he was astonished by what he saw.

Dark Lord was right in front of him, his dagger inches from his face. But, he was moving much more slowly than usual. Trane realized that everything was moving in slow motion, either that or he was moving absurdly fast. Dark Lord was still moving at a dangerous speed, and would cause serious injury if he wasn't blocked. As Trane swung up his blade to counter the blow, he heard the same voice in his head.

_Cut the sky until it bleeds..._

And as their blades collided, he head one more word.

_KILL!_

Right in that moment, the two blades exchanged blows in an otherworldly speed, their hands both a blur. Trane could see all the attacks coming, and replied to them with his own. The world was still moving too slow for him to think about what was happening, but he attacked and parried every blow with clear instinct. After they passed each other, the world flew back into normal time.

They were both breathing a bit heavily, tired from the insane speed of the fight. Trane's knife started cracking from the lagged pressure of the blows, and shattered into pieces. Dark Lord turned towards him.

"Where did you learn that?"

Panting, he replied, "I didn't."

"Strange. For some reason, as the fight progressed, i sensed you getting faster with each passing moment. You even managed to block my assaulter. Savage Blow is a bandit skill, yet you have not even made the first advancement. This is...very interesting." Trane sensed a smirk underneath that mask.

"So. Do I pass?"

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**Author's Notes : **Here's Chapter 3! Had fun writing this one, especially the fight scene. For anyone wondering, "Cut the sky until it bleeds, kill." is the direct translation of the chinese words that appear during the animation of SB. As usual, read and review! :D Chapter 4 will be coming up soon, I promise!

Next time : A history lesson, a visit to Henesys, and five special agents from a certain queen


	4. A look at Henesys

**DISCLAIMER : **MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

_**From this chapter on, the story will be told in first person by our main character, 17 year old Trane Koroshio.**_

* * *

"So. Do I pass?"

Dark Lord straightened, and looked me in the eye.

"Yes. You pass. You may continue your journey, this time as an adventurer, and this time, as a bandit."

_Sweet. Wait, bandit?_

"Don't I get a choice? And I thought I had to become a thief first."

"You must have realized by now, that you have the skill and potential far greater than any ordinary thief. You've already proved you can take on an Assaulter, and can perform Savage Blow. There is no need for you to undergo basic training. However, if you would prefer to do so, you could retake the test with claws."

"It's quite alright." I couldn't hit a barn with a basketball, much less throw a shuriken.

He closed his eyes and pointed a gloved finger at me.

"Then it is done. From this moment on, you are hereby promoted as a bandit. Feel the energy and knowledge of the bandit flow into your soul."

As he spoke, the tip of his finger began to glow. A point on my chest began to glow as well, and it started spreading to the rest of my body. As each limb got coated in light, I felt them get stronger, faster. I felt my stamina and vitality grow tremendously. As the light left my body, it erupted in a brilliant golden explosion, and as quickly as it came, disappeared.

When I looked back up, Dark Lord had his back to me. Guessing that our conversation was over, I turned to leave. Just as I did, however, he spoke again.

"Would you care to go on a mission?"

Seeing as I had nothing better to do at the moment, I decided, "Sure."

"Let us go up first, then. It will be a long discussion."

Nodding, I turned to the ladder and reached for the first rung, stopping on instinct.

_Shit stained ladder. Do not touch._

Hesitating, I waited for Dark Lord to go up first. He eyed me suspiciously, then scoffed and jumped up the whole ladder.

Attempting to follow his lead, I tried to focus Haste on myself. I suddenly felt myself faster, and lighter. Taking a jump, I just managed to get out of the toilet bowl. Waiting at the top was Dark Lord, and a drunk looking man. He was staring at us, shocked. I didn't really blame him; drunk or not, he just saw two men pop out of a toilet bowl like daisies, and one of them was dressed as a ninja. He continued staring at us, and decided it was best if he just passed out, which he did. Dark Lord stepped over him and walked back into the bar and I followed suit.

"Paul, close the fusion bar. There is something I need to discuss with him."

Acknowledging Dark Lord with almost a salute, he yelled, "All right, bar's closed, everyone get out, or I'll throw you out!"

He was apparently telling the truth, as all of the patrons quickly downed the last of their drinks and hurried out of the bar. Dark Lord gestured me to take a seat, and took one himself.

"Have you ever heard of the Black Magician?"

The Black Magician? I had heard of it before, many years before I was born. He was a mage, Grendel's greatest pupil. He had helped save many people and created many things with his vast control of magic. However, Grendel refused to teach him how to perform certain sacred spells, which could grant him immortality. Turning impatient, he began to dabble in dark magic, trying to discover for himself the secret of immortality. When Grendel realized this, he disowned him as his pupil, and dubbed him a traitor and an outcast. The mage turned insane, and vowed to take his revenge on the entire Maple World. Using his now evil magic, he created many of the monsters that threaten our world, even today. Gathering them all to make one gigantic army, he marched on the Maple World, destroying everything in his path. Many great adventurers made an alliance to stop this evil, and a great battle took place. There were was one man who became a legend during this battle, a warrior named Aran. Using his great polearm, Maha, he single-handedly carved a path directly through the army to the Black Magician himself. He and the revered Knights Of Cygnus then battled the Black Magician, buying time for a young Athena Pierce to evacuate most of the injured and innocent. Enraged that his victims had escaped, the Black Magician flew into a rage, and began fighting the six protectors of the Maple World. The Cygnus Knights managed to seal the Black Magician and his power. However, before the seal was completed, he cast his own spell, sealing Aran in a tomb of ice and removing his memories. Peace had then come back to the world, and the Black Magician was never heard of since.

"Yes. But why are you mentioning him?"

"As you know, Henesys was recently attacked, and Athena was badly injured. Her unconscious form was carried to Grendel's tree by an eagle she had summoned. She is still in intensive healing now, but judging by her reports, we have reason to believe that the Black Magician is the cause of this attack."

I held back a gulp. "Then this means..."

"Yes. The great seal is broken."

_Lovely._

"So what do I have to do?"

"First of all, travel to Henesys. Inspect the situation, and report back to me. Then we will see what can be done."

"If you say so."

"Before you leave", he said, giving me a once-over, "It would be best if you purchased some new equipment. I can't have you breaking a good fruit knife every battle you get into."

_Ha, funny_.

But realizing that I did need some equipment, I nodded, and left the bar.

He entered the weapon store, greeted simultaneously by two very different voices. One was a gruff voice, while the other was a squeaky voice with a chinese slang.

"I'm here for some bandit equipment."

Both their eyes lit up, and the gruff man spoke.

"Alright! Pick and choose!"

I went through the various shelves of daggers, finally deciding on a long field dagger.

While quite pricey, he assured me it was defiantly sturdy and sharp. After a few test swings and stabs, I agreed with him, and gave him the money.

Next was clothing. I personally didn't care for what I wore, since if you die, you have no one to look pretty for. I did buy some fingerless gloves, to help me with my grip.

Now I was prepared, and comparatively poorer than before. Hailing a taxi, I asked him to drop me off as close to Henesys as he dared. He dropped me off at the 3-way-road split, and I walked the rest of the way. Upon reaching the top of the hill overlooking Henesys, my eyes widened in shock.

Henesys was completely destroyed. All the houses were in ruins, some of them still on fire. I could smell the stench of death from all the way here. As I moved closer, I saw many people gathered at a specific area outside the town. It seemed none of them were able to enter the town cause of the barrier, like the taxi driver had said. However, the people seemed anxious, and kept looking back towards the town. I wondered, _Is there someone inside there?_

"Hey! Trane!"

I looked behind me, to see who had called my named. Puzzled, I also thought, _I haven't given my name to anyone yet, except..._

"It's me, Roy! Remember, from the ship?"

_Mhm. _He was wearing a sleeveless shirt with pauldrons, and baggy jeans. On his back was a massive sword, almost as big as he was. He still had on that cocky grin from the first time we met. _Oh well, might as well see what he knows._

"Anything you mind telling me?"

"Oh, it seems that Queen Cygnus heard about this situation, and sent her knights to try and resolve it. Apparently, they're immune to this barrier thingy."

_The Knights Of Cygnus are here?_

Just as he thought that, someone yelled.

"Look! The knights are back!"

Looking back to the town, I saw five figures walking out of the town. Two of them were carrying what looked like survivors. As they got closer, I could make out their appearances. They were indeed the fabled Knights Of Cygnus. There was Mihail, the Soul Master. Clad in white and gold armor and a large blade sheathed behind his back, he seemed to radiate light and holy energy. Next was Hawkeye, the Striker. He had on a pirate garb, complete with feathered hat and a blue coat. His face gave a sense of laxness despite the situation. Thirdly was Oz, the cute Flame Wizard. With her shockingly red hair and robe to match, the staff she wielded clearly held much power. Beside her was Irene, the beautiful Wind Breaker. She had long, green hair that flowed gently behind her. On her back was a long bow, made of whitewood and entwined with vines. Behind them all was Ickart, the Night Walker. Walking slowly, his large black cloak billowed behind him. His face was covered by a masquerade-like mask.

_Strange...they look exactly like how the history books depict. It's like they haven't aged a day._

Mihail and Hawkeye layed the survivors they were carrying down, and clerics immediately rushed to begin healing.

Some people began applauding, and soon everyone else was joining them to congratulate the heroes.

I noted the situation, and turned to return to Kerning City to report to Dark Lord.

* * *

**Author's Notes : **Well, here you have it, readers. Chapter 4! The next chapter will have a fight scene, and I'll try my best to be as action-ny as possible. As usual, read and review! :D Now, some answers to the reviewers.

The 21 blue dudes : As to Athena's skill, I was actually going for Silver Hawk, but i'm going to assume that the job instructors can use both paths' skills cause eagles are pretty. I thought about the phoenix bit, but it's not very pleasant to be carried by a flaming bird, right? In any case, she summoned something and flew away. As to maintaining the spell, that's just one of the magical secrets of fanfictions. Next, the story was indeed meant to be told from a third perspective, but typing conversations between "he" and "he" is getting to me. I'll be changing that from this chapter. Cmon, C-rogs aren't THAT big. Besides, the only thing he could do is dodge, and he was lucky all the crog did was swing at him. The battle on the ship is less described cause our hero was busy looking at his harbinger of death. Fight scenes will be more described in the coming chapters, don't worry. His personality...it's hard to describe, but if you've played Persona 3, you should get a general idea on it. Third review, it's not a "fight to the death", per se. More of a "survive, you little maggot!" kind of thing. He could hold his own cause Dark Lord was fighting at the level of a second job, such as when instructors fight at a level low enough for a level 70 to beat them. His knife broke cause that's what it was; a used fruit knife, against whatever high-end designer dagger Dark Lord had on him. He sensed a smirk cause Dark Lord did indeed smirk. Hope you'll stay with my story for the chapters to come =)

Tucson79 : Uh. What do i say? Thanks, hope you keep reading :D

Next time : A training session, a legend returns?


	5. A friendly duel

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

I had walked for about five minutes when I heard Roy yell something from behind me.

"Hold on a second, man. You can't just leave."

I stopped, but didn't turn around.

"And why not?"

"What are the odds of us meeting again, huh? Especially so soon, too."

"Why are you here?"

"Sitting Bull sent me to check out the situation."

"Then there were very high odds."

He walked up to me, and clapped his hand on my shoulder. In his other hand he held out a handphone to me.

"At least trade numbers with me, then we can keep in contact next time!"

Sighing, I clicked in my number into his phone, then passed him mine so he could do the same. When I got my phone back, I started walking again.

"Hey, wait a second!"

"What?" I said, not stopping. I was still on a mission, and this fool was getting on my nerves.

"You don't have to go back so soon. How 'bout a little sparring session?"

"No", I said, and continued walking.

"What's wrong? Afraid you can't take me on?"

"I have somewhere more important to be."

I walked for a few more seconds, then noticed something strange. He had stopped talking, but I could hear footsteps rapidly approaching. I heard a sword swing and instinctively jumped to the side. A massive blade connected with the ground, sending a large wave of dust and dirt flying from the ground.

The dust on the terrain settled. Roy brought up his sword and inspected his reflection on the flawless gleam on his blade.

"What if I _don't _give you a choice?" he taunted, about eight feet away from where I stood.

I narrowed my eyes and drew my dagger. I started walking towards him slowly, and on the second step I focused Haste on myself, and pushed forward off the ground towards him.

His pupils dilated in surprise and his belittling words were cut off as I appeared before him in almost an instant. _Oh, so he DOES know how to shut up_. He barely swung his monstrosity of a weapon to block my attack. I lashed out twice in one swift motion, and he blocked the first attack and smirked, not realizing that Double Stab does exactly what it says

The second slash chopped off a portion of the tip of his blond hair.

"My hair!" he whined. His fingers reached up to touch the faint newly-made bristles on his head.

Throwing me a foul look, he gripped his sword tightly with both hands and started at me. He brought his sword down in a wide arc, which I sidestepped. He suddenly shifted his feet and managed to get the sword into another swinging position. Caught by surprise, I jumped backwards as he swung his sword again, the tip of his sword grazing against my arm.

Now it was my turn to throw him a look of rage. Besides giving me a cut, he had damaged by jacket.

_This was pure leather..._

Lunging forward, I swiped my blade at him which he blocked, giving a half snarl.

I somersaulted past him and twisted my hand, flipping my blade and made for his wrist which he dodges in a fraction of a second. He thrust his sword at me, and I parried. We continued this rhythmic exchanging of blows and I could see his face getting more and more annoyed.

"Would you just **hold still**, dammit!" he yelled, making another pointless stab at me which I easily evaded, jumping on his blade as if it were a spring board and back flipping with the momentum.

As I landed, he flew at me, and I blocked it with my dagger and we engaged in a sword lock. Feeling his brute strength quickly overpowering mine, I slackened the force of the blade, making him move forward and did a reversal using the momentum.

"This ends now." I concluded quietly, my contempt unhooded.

He grasped his blade in a threatening stance, and I raised my dagger and flipped it around in my hand.

Before either of us could attack again, an axe flew past Roy's ear with a whistling sound and embedded firmly in a nearby tree.

"That's quite enough."

We both looked towards the source of the axe, and the voice.

Walking towards us was a dark skinned man, dressed in red indian's clothing. On his head was a headdress with many feathers. He walked with a sense of wisdom and experience, and seemed to make me feel strong just by being near him. The warrior job instructor, Sitting Bull. He glared at Roy, and pointed to him.

"My axe."

Roy hurried to the tree, and tried yanking the axe out of the trunk. I could see him pulling with all his might, but the axe wold not budge. It looked like as if it had cut clear to the other side of the tree trunk. He looked back at Sitting Bull.

"Uh."

Sitting Bull shook his head, and walked towards the tree. Grabbing the handle with one hand, he pulled the axe out with no effort at all. Looking back at the tree, I saw that it did indeed cleave through the trunk. He was truly THE man of strength. He spoke, directing his words to Roy.

"I asked you to gather information, not pick fights for no reason."

"Heh, sorry. I couldn't resist.", Roy replied, earning a smack on the head.

"No matter. We will discuss this back at Perion." Then he turned to me.

"You should get back to your instructor too, young bandit. He may be more patient than me, but he has his limits too."

Nodding to him, I shot one more look at Roy, then turned and hailed a taxi to Kerning City.

A few minutes into the ride, my cellphone rang. I took it out, and saw the caller ID. Roy had apparently taken a photo of himself, and his face showed his cocky grin as the phone continue ringing. Sighing, I answered it.

"Well, you certainly are fast. But now I've gotten in trouble!"

"That's your fault."

"Still, it was fun, wasn't it?"

I had to admit, fighting him provided a rush of exhilaration. His fighting style was oddly unique for a swordsman, and I was able to apply many of my skills in the fight. I had used them so many times, I felt that I had most of them mastered already.

"It was...productive."

"Hahahah, ya see? Hanging out with me is fun, right?"

"When we try to kill each other, then it's okay."

"Well, in any case, I gotta go now. Got a report to give, and everything. Lets meet up sometime, maybe get to know each other more before we fight again."

"You want to fight again?"

"Eh...maybe not. Still, let me know if you're free."

"I might.", I said, and put down the phone. Odd. Why was I bothering opening up to him? Still, I guess a friend is a friend.

* * *

"And why are you in this state?" Dark Lord asked with a casual voice.

Looking down at myself, I noticed the cut in my arm. My hair was still messy from the fight, and I had a lot of dirt on my shoes.

_Way to present yourself._

"Uh."

"Nevermind. What is the situation of Henesys?"

Recollecting my memories, I told him about how the village was still destroyed, but the Knights Of Cygnus had been sent, and had rescued some survivors.

Dark Lord was in silence for a moment. Then he spoke.

"Then our theory is right."

"Theory?"

"You have heard of the story of the Black Magician. I must assume you know about the legend, Aran, as well?"

Aran. The legendary polearm master, sealed in an icy tomb by the Black Magician many years ago.

"Yes, but what does it mean?"

"Grendel had sensed something recently. Sitting Bull also claimed he felt a great warrior's spirit awaken somewhere. This information you have told me shows that Queen Cygnus has dispatched her knights. This confirms our suspicions." He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

"Aran's seal has been released."

* * *

**Author's Notes : **_Dun dun dunn, cliffhanger! Here is Chapter 5, readers! Hope you enjoy. Special thanks to Insanity's Light for helping me with the Trane vs. Roy fight scene. Also, remember to check out Chapter 2 again, it's been edited to give more of an explanation to what's happening. As usual, read and review! Chapter 6 will be coming on Friday._

Next time : A few days of peace, a girl appears?

_P/S : Add in your review what you would like this girl to be like. Keep her cute enough, and our hero MAY get a little crush!_


	6. Class Representatives

**DISCLAIMER : **MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

**

* * *

**

_In a dark cave, deep beneath the dungeon forest of Sleepywood..._

A man stands alone at an altar, his face hidden under his hood. On the altar are several dolls. One particular doll stands out from the rest, as it is holding a miniature model of a polearm with it. The hooded man continuously mutters and chants, directing his magical power into the doll. Soon, faint lines can be seen bonding the man's fingers and the doll's limbs, giving it the appearance of a puppet. Upon noticing that his spell is complete, he closes his eyes.

_"It is done, my lord."_

A voice answered him, a chilling whisper that erupted from the back of his mind, the voice he so very feared, but so very worshipped at the same time.

**Excellent...It is a pity the seal had faded...but, if you succeed, it will most definitely prove to our advantage...**

_"Yes, my lord. Do not worry, I, Francis, the Genius Puppeteer, will not fail you!"_

**Worry...? It matters little to me whether you fail or not. You should pray you do not, however...**

_"...Yes, my lord."_

_

* * *

_

I blinked at Dark Lord in surprise.

"The seal has been released? How can that be?"

"It is our assumption that the seal cast by the Black Magician on Aran many years ago has weakened due to the lack of the constant feeding of power from the caster. I have guessed that whatever power the Black Magician used to break free of his own seal reduced the supply of it."

"Makes sense."

"...Indeed it does." Dark Lord narrowed his eyes at me. "In a few days time, Aran should have regained conciousness, and we will be able to pinpoint his location. The Knights Of Cygnus will be leading the rescue mission, and will be followed by one representative of each class."

He was still staring at me, and I realized where he was going with this.

"You're choosing me?"

"Yes, I am."

"Why? I am under-qualified. I became a bandit only recently. Why not send a 3rd, or a 4th?"

He blinked slowly, then replied me with a simple answer.

"Because I have chosen you instead."

_...Ask a simple question, huh._

"In any case, the mission will not take place until a few days later. I suggest you train as much as possible, and get new equipment if neccessary."

"Right." I said, and left.

I decided to check out the equipment store first. The simple mission from earlier provided a surprisingly hefty amount of reward money. I walked in, and looked through their clothing racks. I sold my torn and bloodstained jacket, using the money to buy a new one, cotton this time. It was a surprisingly large improvement, as it gave little to no weight, as opposed to the usually cumbersome leather jacket I always used to wear.

Looking at the weapons, I noticed two that stood out. One was a small gold colored dagger, with a curved blade. The other, looked nothing like a dagger. It consisted of two large blades, each about the length of a forearm, connected together by a small, normal-sized handle. I beckoned the shopkeeper over.

"This big one over here, I'm assuming you need a lot of strength to carry it?"

He laughed heartily. "Oh, no. This dagger doesn't require you to have even an ounce of strength!"

_Impossible._

"You must be mistaken. This...dagger...must weight about eight pounds, at the least."

"Nope! Here," he said, and opened the cabinet. "Try it out if you like."

Eyeing him suspiciously, I took the weapon by the handle and gave it a tug.

The dagger flew upwards with my momentum, and I almost lost my balance. How could this...behemoth of a dagger, be so light? In fact, not only was it light, it was extremely easy to use despite it's clearly flawed and awkward design.

"Then what about this?" I asked, gesturing to the smaller, curved dagger.

"Oh, you're gonna have to be pret-ty strong to be able to use that."

_Uh._

I decided not to press on the matter, and bought the larger but lighter dagger.

_I suppose that's just the way things work in this world._

Upon leaving the store, I heard my cellphone ring. It was Roy.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Trane! Can you come over to Ellinia for a sec?"

"You do realize that it's at the other side of the island, right?"

"Yeah, man, I know. But there's some people here you've gotta meet! It's pretty important you get to know 'em!"

If it really was important, then it would be better if I went. Besides, I need to get some potions if I'm going to train seriously.

"I'll be there." I said, and hung up.

The taxi arrived at Ellinia a few minutes later, and I got out. Looking around, the mere sight of the town never failed to amaze me. The trees seemingly grew wherever they wanted to, yet maintaining the simple design of the town. Houses were built into the trees, instead of around it. Fairies and townspeople were going about their business, and a strong sense of magic filled the air at all times.

"Oh, that's him! Hey, Trane! Over here!"

I looked for the source of the voice, and saw Roy sitting at some café with a few other people several metres above me. I couldn't be bothered to walk up the roots of the tree, so I decided I'd try something a bit different.

I took a deep breath, and took a run at the thick tree trunk. When I reached it, I focused Haste onto myself, and started running up it instead of smacking into it face first. I could hear Roy yell something like "Holy shit!". When I felt my momentum slow down slightly, I kicked off the tree, flying higher into the air. I performed one long, slow flip and landed right in front of the table where they were sitting.

"I told you he was good."

Roy was grinning like an idiot, as usual. Joining him at the table were three other people. One was an archer, a kind looking girl with short, brown hair. Next to her was a tough looking guy with white hair and a scar above his left eye, but he had a friendly smile. He didn't appear to be armed, so I assumed he must be a pirate of some sort, as I had heard that some of them use their fists to combat. Lastly, at the end of the row, was another girl.

This girl wasn't like the previous one. In fact, she wasn't like any other girl I had seen before. She had long, blazing red hair that was partially tied in pigtails. It framed her cute face, and her bright brown eyes shined in the glow from the sunbeams cutting through the trees. She smiled when our eyes met, and I saw that she had very slight dimples on either side of her cheeks, along with a killer smile.

"Trane? Hello...? Heh, I think running up that tree made all the blood go to your head, cause your face is all red now!"

_Eep._

I took a seat, the only available one being next to that girl. I forced my usual passive look back onto my face, then spoke.

"So, why am I here?"

"Well," Roy said, "I heard Dark Lord chose you as the thief rep, right?"

"Yes."

"Hah, I knew it! Well, anyway, these three are the reps for the other classes, bowmen, pirates and mages respectively."

The girl with the bow grinned at me and waved. "My name's Chihiro! Pleased to meet you!"

I nodded in acknowledgment.

The guy with the white hair shook my hand with a freakishly strong grip.

"De'Lite, Desmond."

I nodded in acknowledgment.

The red haired girl smiled at me again.

"Hi! My name is Risette, pleased to meet you!"

I felt the color in my face rise again. At this rate, I think it would be pretty obvious that-

"Oh...?...OH! OHOHOHO!" I heard Roy start in his realization of the situation, his usually cocky grin widening, looking more and more like a magnet for my dagger's blade.

I ignored him, but I was definitely blushing when I did something I've never done. I smiled.

"...I'm Trane. I'm very pleased to meet you."

* * *

**Author's Notes : **_Ta-da! Chapter 6 is up, right on schedule (according to my time scheme). Shamwow, who is that mysterious Puppeteer? In this chapter, I introduce a few new characters, and one in particular seems to have caught our hero's eye, and possibly heart? It's still too early to tell, so stay with me, readers! Also, I bring up one of my many long-wondered thoughts about how daggers work in Maple. Luck daggers are HUGE and look insanely heavy, and strength daggers look like knives. BUTTER KNIVES! As usual, read and review, next chapter will be up soon! And now, some reviewer replies._

Insanity's Light : Yes, I didn't write stuff like this. In fact, I don't write. Why am I writing this, then? I don't know, but I'm quite happy that I am. Thanks again for choreographing the fight scene. The tree bit will be appearing, I promise! Sadly, Facebook has no ties to this website. There is a dandy Favorite button though_, _and if you could add this story to that, that'd be just peachy. Hope the girl is good enough for your tastes. Keep reading and reviewing!

xXLusteringMoonXx : Hello, and thank you for choosing to read my story. I'd like to mention again though, that his fight with the Crog was all it could be. He was only able to dodge, and that was what he did =) Injured foot does not invite more pain. Also, I didn't have a problem soloing a Crog when I was a 3rd, or maybe that's just me. Another mention, when you fight Dark Lord for the 3rd advancement, he fights at the level of a level 70. I've implemented the assumption that in this story, when he took on Dark Lord, he fought at the level of a level 30. Not really a sharingan rip-off, per se. More like, it's easier to describe the world moving slow than to describe one guy moving absurdly fast in more than one sentence. Thank you for your review, however. More is appreciated, hope you keep reading!

Anonymoose : Oh, thank you! ...Ah, yes, the pirates. Whoops. To quote the prologue, "Eh, you can't get 'em all the time."

_Why do anonymous reviewers give these one or two liner reviews?_

Next time : A little bit of training, Clash! Knights versus Legend!_  
_


	7. Battle a Legend

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

After several minutes, Roy managed to shut up and get his mind back on the matter at hand.

I took a stab at restarting a conversation.

"So, how did you all know about the other representatives?". Desmond looked at me in puzzlement.

"Our instructors told us about it. Wasn't it the same for you?"

"I guess he isn't as forth-giving with information."

"In any case," Chihiro spoke, standing up. "We need to go and see Athena, and Master Grendel. I have to check up on her condition, and get details about the mission."

_Athena had still not yet recovered? Had the injuries been so severe? It had almost been a week, and she's been going through intensive healing nonstop. Could this really be the power of the Black Magician?_

We talked for a few more minutes, then got up to see Grendel and Athena. Scaling up the tall trees were not too much of a problem for Chihiro and myself, as we were both the most agile and dexterous of our group. Risette also seemed to be moving with ease, as she had apparently been to Ellinia many, many times. Desmond wasn't moving particularly fast, but he was moving nonetheless. As for a certain cocky warrior who was carrying twice his weight due to his overly massive sword, he was clearly struggling to take another step up the steep vines. He would eventually manage that step, only to find another one up ahead, and another. He called out to me.

"Hey!...Hey...buddy...*pant*...wanna *pant* help me out here?"

I thought about it for a while, then replied back to him.

"You laughed at me."

"What? You can't seriously STILL be mad at that, can ya? C'mon, it was funny!"

"So is this."

I continued walking for a few steps, then looked back. He hadn't moved an inch. At this rate, we would never get to the top. Sighing, I stopped, and decided to speed things up for everyone. Focusing Haste again, I dispersed the energy to the five of us, enhancing our speed and agility.

Roy immediately sped up, soon bounding past me as he sprinted up the path, no doubt eager to reach the top before the effects wore off. Chihiro stared after him, gleefully yelling, "Oh no you don't!", before skipping up to race him. Desmond also caught up, and exclaimed.

"You coulda done this the whole time? Why the hell didn't you?"

"You didn't ask."

"Why you...Okay, okay, fine." He sighed, and continued on.

That left...

"Thanks."

I turned. Risette was standing beside me, smiling. _That smile..._

"Don't mention it."

"They're quite lively, aren't they?", she said, gesturing to the three of them, racing to the top.

"I can't complain."

Which was true. Even in the past, I never really encountered people like them before. It was nice, knowing you had people there for you.

I realized she was looking at me.

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"How do you affect people's lives?"

"I really don't know."

"Well," she said, walking past me. "I hope to find out how you'll affect my life, Trane."

_What?_

"Wait."

She turned, and I could see she had been smiling.

"Yes..?"

_Shit. Now what?_

"Uh...I..."

Why was I fumbling with words? I never fumble with words. I took a breath, and blocked out my conscience when I spoke.

"Can I have your number?"

She looked at me for a moment while I prayed silently. Then her face broke into a smile.

"Sure." She walked up and typed her number in my phone, and passed me her phone to do the same.

I figured, since I'm already here, might as well go for it.

"Do you want to..."

I stopped again, aware of the color rising in my face again.

_Augh, I can't do it!_

She obviously noticed this, because she giggled, then spoke, a blush of her own showing on her cheeks.

"Alright then, I'll ask. Do you want to go out sometime?"

"I...yes. I would."

She gave me another smile and a nod, then turned and began walking up again.

I was stunned for a few seconds, then remembered where I was, and followed her up.

_Glee!_

Upon reaching the top, Chihiro looked up and noticed us.

"Grendel doesn't want people disturbing him at the moment, so we can't go in. Athena's in a pretty stable condition, but she still can't go out for a while. They told us to get as much training as possible, and meet in Lith Harbor in two days."

Roy and Desmond were furious.

"What the fuck! They made us climb all the way up here, and now they're telling us it's for nothing, and to go all the way back down?"

"You know," Risette said. "There's a teleporter here, and it connects from here to the base of the town."

They both looked at her, jaws hanging open. Roy looked like he was going to say something mean, but I shot him a glare. He gulped.

"Ah. Sorry...for not asking."

"Well," Desmond said, yawning. "We might as well leave now. I'm gonna go straight home and get some shut eye, I'm pooped."

I looked at all of them.

"Remember to get your training done."

They all nodded, and left, each going in a different direction.

For the next two days, I decided to busy myself with training, so I was prepared for any accidents that may happen on the mission. I was in Perion, hunting Drakes, as their wide bodies forced me to move quicker to get behind them where their weak spots were. The fights were ridiculously easy, and I had flourished my skills to the extent where diving over the fireball of a Red Drake, sliding under it's tail when it came sweeping at me and then plunging my knife into it's heart was mere child's play. I continued this for a while, and felt much stronger, faster and more experienced by the end of the day.

Soon, the days had passed, and we all met up at Lith Harbor. Roy and Desmond appeared to have been training together, as they were much friendlier with each other than before. They also seemed to have a few new cuts and bruises. It was a good sign, as it showed they had been training rather seriously.

Chihiro and Risette must have done the same, too. They were both chatting animatedly, and when Chihiro saw me, she whispered something into Risette's ear, and she shushed her, her cheeks turning pink.

Not long after I arrived, we heard a voice from behind us.

"Good, you're all here!"

The Knights had showed up, dressed in the same attire as I had seen them in before. Mihail, the Soul Master, spoke again.

"Let's not waste any time. We'll brief you on the way." He gestured to the docks.

"What ship are we taking?" Desmond asked.

"Ahahah, we aren't taking a ship."

As he said that, a whale swam up to the docks. On it was a large block of ice, flat and wide enough for about twenty people to stand on comfortably. On it's head was...a penguin?

It seemed nobody was going to go through with their obvious questions, so I got onto the whale, followed by everyone else. After a minute of awkward silence and hearing the penguin talk about his life and glory days, I decided to ask.

"Who is this?"

"This," Hawkeye said. "Is one of many inhabitants of the icy village of Rien."

I had heard about Rien in my studies. It was an island, coated in ice, inhabited by talking penguins. That's all it was.

"And why are we going to Rien?"

"We have confirmed, that Aran's seal has broken, and that his tomb was discovered in Rien."

"You're job," Irene spoke. "Is to provide support, ONLY if necessary."

"Right!" Oz said. "Aran's way too strong for any of you to take on."

"Why are you mentioning a fight?" I asked.

"We can't be sure if he remembers he's on our side." Ickart stated.

That was all we were going to know at this moment, so we stayed silent until we arrived. There was a girl waiting for us when we arrived. She had light blue hair and eyes.

"Welcome to Rien. My name is Lilin. I take it you people are here to investigate the disturbance in the cave. Please follow me."

She led us to a cave, and I on the way I realized other penguins seemingly living lives like ordinary people. I even saw one smelting a blade, and two others loading boxes into a store.

At the entrance of the cave, Lilin stopped.

"This is as far as I can take you. Please, good luck, and be careful."

The Knights stepped forward. Mihail drew his sword.

"Alright, like we said before, you are not to directly engage Aran if he his hostile. Just leave it to us."

We followed them at a distance into the cave. Inside it was, if possible, even colder than the outside.

We soon arrived at a large wall of ice, and the Knights stopped us and moved forward.

As if to respond to their presence, the cave began shaking, and I could feel a strong aura coming from the wall. A small crack suddenly appeared in it, and quickly spread throughout the wall, eventually shattering into pieces.

I shielded my eyes from the falling shards of ice, and when I regained view, there was a surprising sight.

A man was crouched on one knee. He had brown skin and short white hair that spiked at the top like a faux-hawk. He was wearing what seemed to be light leather armor and a brown cape with fur trimmings. The legend, Aran. At his side was an elegantly shaped pole arm with a gold trim, his fabled weapon, Maha.

Aran picked up his weapon, stood up slowly and opened his electric blue eyes. For a moment he looked dazed, then realized he had no idea where he was. He began looking around frantically, his eyes wide. Mihail spoke to him.

"Aran. We are the Knights Of Cygnus. Do you remember us?"

He replied with an accent that sounded somewhat Russian.

"Remember...you? I...do not...even remember...me..."

Risette whispered to me.

"I don't think he remembers anything, let alone who he is. It must be because of the curse the Black Magician cast on him."

Mihail moved closer to Aran, his arm reaching out.

"C'mon, Aran. Let us help you."

Aran looked like he was going to take Mihails hand, when suddenly he doubled over in pain.

"AAAUUGHHHHH!"

"Aran, what's wrong?"

He thrashed in pain for a few long seconds, then suddenly stopped. He got to his feet again, but this time his usually blue eyes were dull and gray. He looked at Mihail for a moment, then without warning, swung his pole arm at him. Mihail widened his eyes in surprise, then quickly jumped backwards.

Mihail recovered, and the other Knights joined him at his side, drawing their weapons and getting into their battle stances. Ickart looked at Aran.

"Don't make the stupid decision."

In reply, Aran thrust his pole arm in the air in front of him creating a thin, crackled void.

The knights watched as purple tendrils of smoke began creeping out of the void, gathering form and taking shape of a massive, vicious wolf pack. The violet hued wolves growled menacingly, their chalky eyes promising no mercy. The gazes of the wolves and knights met for a split second before coming to a mutual understanding.

Neither were going to show any mercy.

Then they attacked.

A wave of flames from Oz's scepter erupted over the space ahead of her, scorching the grounds and riveting straight at the pack, scattering the wolves.

She repelled a pair of spirit wolves that were racing towards her with a flame orb while Hawkeye flipped a couple ways away from her and drew his arm back, crackling with electricity. Upon throwing his fist forward, he summoned a number of lightning sharks that flew at the pursuing beasts, reducing them to puffs of meaningless, disappearing smoke.

Mihail stabbed his sword into the belly of one and ribbons of smoke temporarily decorated the tip of his sword. He noticed a growl close to his head... too close... and he turned just in time to see a wolf fly at him with gnashing teeth.

*Twok!*

The wolf exploded and Mihail spotted an arrow wedged in the icy wall.

Irene, as beautiful and calm as ever, smiled as she lowered her ornate bow. The wolves fled from her deadly cyclone that surrounded her which was as swift and razor sharp as Ickart's throwing stars. Mihail gave a slight smirk as he watched Irene, surrounded in her lethal power; fire an arrow at another wolf.

Having decided his next move in less than an instant, he swivels around and notices an onslaught of wolves coming at him.

Jumping from the ground, he deftly raised his sword above him and slammed it onto the ground creating a fast, running rift of light on impact; disapparating the wolves with a neat domino effect. Hoping that Irene had caught a glance of his impressive act, he turned to her; a charming yet self-glorifying grin already plastered on his face, only to find that the person in question was already calculatingly regarding their opponent.

It was Irene's turn to smirk as she purposefully turned away to determine the legendary warrior they were up against, just barely catching Mihail's smug expression snap into dissatisfaction.

But her inward giggles disappeared on sight of the warrior.

Clutching his pole arm with a clenched hand, Aran's face conveyed no particular expression as his dull eyes observed the skills of his contenders.

He watched the archer deactivating her wind magic, gesturing to her night walker and mage companions. The soul master fellow beside her bore a disgruntled frown on his face. They conversed quickly, as all individuals on the battleground should.

Coming to a silent agreement, the knights all turned and faced Aran squarely.

Ickart called out, "Aran. You have to recall who you once were. It's our people's only hope of survival."

"Please... please. We need you." The red haired fire mage interjected.

Aran's dull blue eyes held no signs that he was listening. Crouching down for one-tenth of second, he shot up, lifting his weapon over his head with a crazed look adorning his visage. Like he was trying to battle with a very bad stomach-ache.

"Oh great... I was afraid this was gonna happen. They always act up after the reasoning round" muttered Hawkeye.

"Just remember the plan" came Irene's staid order as she notched an arrow in her bow and directed it at Aran's current position.

As Aran's pole-arm blade ventured downward, an iridescent mass of blue light emitted in the space behind him, morphing into a beautiful, lethal looking bear, with one paw raised as if it were ready to malignantly strike down all in its path.

Aran swung his weapon down; the paw mimicked it.

On collision, an icy fog disseminated rapidly. A powerful quake emerged from the frozen surface, making the cold crystallized chamber sparkle and tremor violently.

Unhindered by the lack of vision, Ickart avoided the relentless attacks of the frenzied legend and leapt out of reach. Oz couldn't see a thing save for the milky clouds around her. She was a master of fire magic, but it only can help her so much in this situation. Twirling her scepter, a stream of fire gashed out and disintegrated a couple of boulders falling onto her. She caught a glimpse of Irene through the line of clear air her fire seared from the ice mist. The archer struck a falling rock with her bow in the nick of time before glancing at the fire mage.

"We'd have more of a chance combined," she hollered through the ruckus. Evading some crumbled rock, Irene started to make her way to Oz's side.

The fog covered our view of the fight, and it didn't seem like it was going very well. Unsheathing my dagger, i got into my battle stance.

Chihiro looked at me with wide eyes. "What the heck are you doing? We're just supposed to give support!"

"What better way to support than what I'm doing now?" I said, and dashed forward into the chaos. I heard Risette yell.

"Trane!"

I couldn't see very well, but enough to make out my general surroundings. Before I could identify the location of the Knights, I heard a yell coming from my right.

Spinning quickly, I managed to parry the pole arm of the dark-skinned legend. When our blades collided, I could feel the sheer anger coming from his, almost as if it did not want to be attacking us. I started to believe that it did indeed have a soul of it's own, as it hindered Aran's movement when he tried to swing, slowing his attacks down enough for me to block. His slick control of the weapon still posed a serious threat, as he managed to fluidly transition from one attack to another, each swing getting more and more deadly. I was able to block and counter most of his attacks with consecutive Savage Blows, but some of his attacks were connecting. I definitely felt the pain, and I certainly could not keep this up forever. It didn't matter though; I just needed to buy the Knights time to recover.

He jumped backwards out of my reach, and swung his pole arm around his body, using the momentum to fling it directly at me. I dived to the side, but I knew I would not be fast enough to dodge the hit entirely. Suddenly, a gust of wind hit me, and I flew out of the dust, back to where my companions were. The pole arm slammed into the wall near us, and the consecutive rumble caused the cave to begin collapsing. Many rocks started falling from the ceiling, threatening to crush us all.

A glowing metallic sheen of a battalion of blades was suddenly present in the cave, hovering just above the multitude of falling stones for moment. At the same time, dozens of black and purple bats, seemingly made from shadow flew up from the ground and surrounded us, forming a makeshift umbrella of sorts before I heard an undeniable shout.

"Stay put!"

And the sound of the blade battalion were flitting down on them so fast, we had no chance to react. The earth quaked again and stopped. The noise was reminiscent to boiled water poured onto snow. But from what I could make out, Aran was still standing.

Just then, an arrow whizzed dangerously near Aran's shin. The sharpened arrowhead nicking a part of his leather shin guard. A reflexive action, he pulled his shin back and was about to move for a counter when Hawkeye suddenly maneuvered into range, appearing right before him in less than a second. The Striker slammed an electrically charged fist into Aran's stomach. As he flew backwards, he spotted a dozen, small, dark projectiles spinning his way. The fog rose again upon impact.

A moment's silence.

The air cleared slowly but surely. Everything was visible again. The bats had shielded us from the stray rocks, and had dissipated into the air.

We took in the view of the thousands of beautifully glowing swords pinning the once falling rocks to the ground. Oz was looking at Irene who stared at Mihail with wide eyes. Mihail looked smug.

Ickart was leaning crossed-armed against a large, ice-capped boulder which Hawkeye sat on.

Rolling his eyes, Ickart wandered over to the place where he had hoped he'd firmly hold the memory-deprived and seemingly possessed Aran in place with his throwing stars.

And there he was. His cape and the sides of his shirt carried the repeated pattern of shuriken pinning him against the glaciered wall.

* * *

**Author's Notes : **_Huzzah, chapter 7 is done! Thanks again to Insanity's Light for helping with the awesome KoC vs. Aran fight scene. Hope you enjoy, readers, and as usual, read and review! Now, some replies to reviewers._

_Trip3x : Thank you! I don't know of any other site except FF, so yay. Hope you stay with this story! :D_

_The 21 blue dudes : Sorry for Roy's character, I just wanted a contrasting character with Trane, but don't worry too much about the cockiness. Something will happen soon. A big personality change may happen to one or more of our characters. As to the use of daggers, things will be easier for Trane, but I have to tell you that he might not be using them for much longer. Using two daggers would make him a Dual Blader, and I don't intend on him doing that. At least for now. About the cellphones, think about it. Maple has areas like Showa, Singapore and Malaysia, and especially Omega Sector. They have cellphones, I think. I'm not 12, do I write like I'm that young? D: In any case, thank you for your reviews, hope you stay with the story._

_Insanity's Light : Thanks for your review again. Eyebrows will grow back, the same way all hair does! :D I still think you should play Maple, it's getting awfully lonely nowadays, what with everyone going solo and the only time they talk to you is to "GTFO of my channel or I KS you, you noob shit faggot" when it's your map in the first place. Thanks again for the fight scene._

Next time : _A visit from an evil entity?  
_


	8. Recovery

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

_In a dark cave, unseen to all..._

"What? My magic...It's not working!" A hooded man screamed, shaking a marionette connected by faint, glowing strings furiously. "Why won't you respond to my actions? Move, you worthless little-"

The man's words were cut short, as a dark voice spoke, surging directly into his mind.

**It seems you have failed me...**

The man's face flooded with terror, and he dropped the marionette, shaking as he spoke.

"M-my lord...just g-give me more time. I...I can strengthen the bond, and make him break free. I-"

**You forget your place, Puppeteer.**

The voice faded, and the man dropped to his knees and screamed, his voice echoing off the walls of his cave.

* * *

I looked at the wall, seeing the Legend pinned against the wall by multiple shuriken, unconscious.

Ickart stared at him for a few moments, then removed the shuriken from his armor, and he fell to the floor.

"It is safe. He will not be waking up anytime soon."

"Why did he turn on us?" Chihiro asked.

"We think he was being controlled by someone. It doesn't make sense any other way." Hawkeye replied.

The Knights exchanged words and silent glances, and we were unable to hear the conversation. Soon, they nodded and came to an agreement, then turned to us again.

"We have made our decision. We will remove his abilities and store them with the memories in his mind. If he has no abilities to control, then he should be safe until we can find and eliminate this threat."

"Can't you just bring his memories back?", Risette asked.

Mihail regarded the unconscious man, and replied simply.

"He is the only one who can do that."

The Knights formed a circle around Aran, and muttered some silent words. A light erupted from him, floating mid-air for a moment before going back into his body. As the light disappeared, a faint *click* sound could be heard.

The Knights moved away.

"It's done."

A soft hum could be heard. We turned to the source, discovering that it was his pole arm, Maha. It appeared to be rattling on it's own, even without it's owner to control it. Suddenly, it raised itself off the ground, and flew out of the cave's entrance, whistling as it blew by. Roy turned to chase after it, when Mihail stopped him.

"But, shouldn't we-" He started.

"Not necessary. The spirit within his weapon has decided not to aid him in his battles until he remembers who he really is, lest he attempt to hurt someone again."

At that, we all turned to leave, the Knights leading the way. Roy and Desmond moved to helped me up, as I was too injured to walk. The injuries I had sustained earlier proved to be more grave than I had previously believed. I had recalled only receiving light scratches and cuts, but looking at the wounds again showed a completely different matter. The apparent 'cuts' turned out to be deep and painful slashes.

_Damn...I can't fight efficiently with daggers. If the enemies I'll be facing turn out to be anywhere close to his strength, I'll have to learn a knew technique of using the dagger. The reach is too short, and it's too unbalanced when combined with swinging momentum. Either that, or I'll have to get a new weapon.  
_

The adrenalin from the fight must have prevented me from feeling it before, but now the pain rushed back in a violent wave of agony. I gave a pained gasp, dropped to my knees, and passed out.

* * *

I woke up in complete darkness. My surroundings were pitch black, and I couldn't hear or smell anything. The only thing I could feel, was that it was cold. Extremely cold. But it wasn't the average winter cold like from Rien. This cold was dark...angry...evil. All of a sudden, I hear a voice speak.

**Do you know your destiny...?**

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled with a slight fear. The owner of that voice spoke like a human, but it's voice...It was the voice of something malevolent. A fog started forming, swirling around me. In the depth of it, I made out a slight silhouette in the distance. Without thinking, I drew my dagger and charged at him. Swinging my arm, I felt the blade connect with it, slashing through it. But it didn't feel like flesh. It didn't feel like anything, to be honest. The figure raised an arm, and I reflexively jumped back. It paused for a moment, as if regarding me.

**So...you can see a little bit...**

As he spoke, the fog thickened, obscuring my view of the shadow.

**It appears that you will play a much larger role than I had anticipated...**

"Start making sense." I exclaimed, and attacked again. This time however, my blade sliced through the air, making no contact. I could no longer see him, but he still spoke.

**Very well...You will come to know of your true purpose soon enough.**

The voice faded, and the fog went with it. My head felt heavy and I found it hard to think. I dropped to the ground with a thud.

* * *

My eyes snapped open again. I was in a room, a hospital ward. I looked to my right, and saw Risette, asleep on a nearby chair.

I glanced to my injuries, only to find that they weren't there. I felt no pain. In fact, I felt great. Full of energy.

_How long have I been here?_

"Oh! You're finally up!" Risette had woken up, and walked over to my bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Surprisingly well. How long was I unconscious?"

"You were out for five days. You passed out in Rien cause of your injuries, so we brought you here as soon as we got back."

_Shit. Five days? But still..._

"Five days doesn't make sense", I pointed out my fully healed injuries. "I don't think my injuries were that minor."

Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Ah...about that...I-"

Before she could finish, the door was kicked open with a loud bang. Three people walked in with anxious looks on their faces.

"You're awake! Dude, you gotta learn to sleep in intervals, man. Don't just stay up all the time then fall asleep in bulk." The tallest one said, grinning with his usual cocky demeanor.

"As subtle as ever, Roy." The man next to him stated, with his gruff but lazy voice, slicking back his white hair with his hand.

The girl that came with them giggled. "Hee hee. Dummies reunited!"

I chose to ignore the insult.

"You were all here waiting?" I asked.

"For sure we were, man!" Roy said enthusiastically. "It would've been even longer if Risette here hadn't kept healing you 24-7."

I looked at her, and her blush deepened.

"I...I know some healing magic...but it's not my main focus on skills, so the wounds didn't heal as fast. I'm sorry..."

I got up from the bed, walked up to her, and put my hands on her shoulders.

"Hey. You saved my life. There's nothing to apologize for."

She stared at me for a second, her eyes glistening, then suddenly hugged me.

"Thank you."

Now it was my turn to blush. In the corner of my eye, I could see Roy giving a bag of money to Desmond with a disappointed look on his face. Where they betting on this? Beside them, Chihiro was giggling madly. Putting the distractions out of my mind, I moved my hands to her back, hugging her too.

"No...thank you."

* * *

It was only a few hours before the doctors let me out. Everyone had gone off to do their own things, and I told Risette to get some rest, and thanked her again.

_She's something, isn't she?_

I decided to go and see Dark Lord, to ask if he had any comments on the mission, and whether he had another. Entering the secret room below the Fusion Bar, I saw him in his usual spot. That is, on the ceiling. He opened his eyes when he noticed me.

"You have been gone a while."

"I had to recover from some injuries."

"Understood."

"What happened after I fell unconscious?"

"Your friends carried you back, and the Knights have spoken to the one named Lilin. She will look after Aran when he wakes up, and hopefully guide him to retrieve his memories and his abilities as his own."

"Aran...he's incredibly strong."

Dark Lord looked at me for a few long seconds.

"It seems...you have grown much stronger as well."

"What do you mean?"

"I see you now, not as you were when you first walked in here, an inexperienced boy with a fruit knife, but as a bandit, fully able, and one that has more potential yet to be unleashed. Answer me this : would you like to become even stronger?"

I stared at him, surprised. Could he mean...

"Yes."

"Then your quest to achieve the next level of your skill and abilities, to rise to the ranks of the third class, the Chief Bandit, has begun."

_Sweet._

"You are to go to Ellinia, deep in the forest. Find the portal, and defeat my other self. You will understand."

I nodded, and left.

_Way to give information._

_

* * *

_**Author's Notes : **_Here is Chapter 8, readers. Now, please don't kill me. I know that this chapter isn't what it's supposed to be, but I need to limit the words per chapter, and I forgot to put this part in earlier. Many apologizings__! The NEXT chapter will have the third job advancement, I promise! As usual, read and review! REVIEWS ARE AN AUTHOR'S FUEL. Anyway, time for some reviewer replies._

___Ruminative Be : Thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate very. Hope you keep with this story. Have a nice day :B_

___The 21 blue dudes : Hello again! I won't say romance is blooming, per se. More like, the both of them know what they're doing. As for Aran, it's explained in this chapter that his skills were locked with his memories by the Knights, thus tying into the original story. I just couldn't pass up the chance for a good fight scene. I just think that he looks like he should have a Russian accent. Wait till you see Evan's (Another sneak-peek cause of you =[). Russian people play Maple too, besides, it's a game, be a little open minded to logic breakers. I wouldn't really question the grammar of magic, cause who are we to say how magic works? :p_

___Insanity'sLight fan : Thank you for reading it! Don't be so angry though, he's just giving his opinion, as are you._

___**Character's current levels, requested by The 21 blue dudes (And full names, too!)  
**Trane Koroshio [ko-ro-shee-yo] _ - Bandit (lvl 70)___  
Roy Tevinter [ter-vin-ter]_ - Fighter (lvl 68)  
_Chihiro Kushina [coo-shee-na] - _Hunter (lvl 65)_  
Desmond De'Lite [dee-light]_ - Brawler / Infighter (lvl 66)_  
Risette Diamono [dee-a-mo-no]_ - Cleric & ? (lvl 69)

Next time : Third job advancement!


	9. Third Job Advancement

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

Finding the portal was easy enough. A few monkeys tried to block me, but fled when I drew my dagger. I stepped into the portal, and immediately my surroundings blurred. It refocused into a dimly lit cave.

The torches on the pillars flickered steadily as I took in my surroundings.

_Quiet._

As I took a step forward, trails of shadows gathered to form a wispy portal a few meters away. A gloved hand shot through portal. Then, the whole form of Shadow Dark Lord manifested through the gloomy shadows.

My eyes followed his movements. Shadow Dark Lord stepped through the portal and stood ever so still as the portal behind him evaporated to nothing.

I could feel Shadow Dark Lord's cold eyes appraising me. Gripping the handle of my dagger, I took a steady breath.

Then I started running in his direction. But as soon as I began to move, he was right in front of me, slashing at my torso with a quick stroke of his dagger. I barely had time to raise my own dagger to counter the attack. As I rose my blade to rush in to my defence, my left forearm suddenly emanated a searing pain.

I jumped back, startled, and glanced at my forearm. Starting from my wrist, my sleeve, along with my flesh had been ripped open. The sharp point of a shuriken was embedded deeply near my elbow joint.

I winced slightly as I pulled the shuriken out quickly and rolled away as Shadow Dark Lord sent an onslaught of shuriken coming my way.

I looked at Shadow Dark Lord again after coming up from my roll; the ground around me was smattered with blood.

The hands of Shadow Dark Lord formed an intricate seal and from his shadow, a human-like shape emerged. It stood and transformed into the perfect likeliness of Shadow Dark Lord.

I witnessed the process with slight fascination before remembering that the purpose of it was for my defeat.

Shadow Dark Lord and his clone shot me a steely gaze. Then, at the same time, they started advancing towards me.

My dagger was at the ready and I held my ground even if I was burdened with the fact that I couldn't take down the both of them.

One of them leapt off the ground so suddenly in mid-run that I was tempted to look up...shouldn't have even _thought_ about that. Just in time, my blade blocked a swipe from... wait... no... This is the clone... almost as fast as it's maker.

But only _almost_.

The clone's attacks were swift but I managed to counter and evade them much easier. But still, one strike could prove deadly. I knew that even if the clone wasn't as quick as the original...

_Shit! The original!_

Knowing that heaps of trouble will just befall me if I start looking out for Shadow Dark Lord while fighting his relentless clone, I ran a quick plan in my head and fell back a little as the clone attacked.

At the first chance I got, I back-somersaulted behind a large fallen stone slab; one of which I caught sight of earlier. Just as I thought, the clone followed suit. I figured that I'd at least have some cover from the real Shadow Dark Lord and focus on defeating my current opponent.

_Got him, _was the last thing I thought as he got backed up against the stone. I lifted my dagger, preparing to end it.

An ominous whirring sound, too fast.

I stared in disbelief as I watched the wicked edges of a giant shuriken slice through the sturdy stone slab then reducing the clone to mere wisps of shadowy matter before the shuriken hit its actual mark.

*_Thuck_*

I don't know if it was awe or shock that kept me standing. My trembling fingers went up to my torso. I looked down at myself and saw that my fingers were coated in fresh blood... and the side of my chest... a point of the shuriken had pierced about a few centimetres away from my heart.

Maybe it was the shock that held me up for that moment. It sure didn't last long. Unbearable pain overwhelmed me and I doubled over. Cold sweat started to break over me. The shuriken... I knew that one way or another, I couldn't let it stay in my chest. Its weight slowly dragged it down closer to my heart.

Gritting my teeth and vying for deep breaths, I raised my hands out and gripped the sides of the shuriken, the new cuts on my hands failed to shun the burning in my chest.

I had to put all my efforts in pulling the shuriken till it was out.

I coughed.

_Huh...I forgot how blood tasted like._

Trying to ignore the unpleasant sensations issued on my body, I struggled to focus on my breathing and think of a plan to get myself out of this mess. But my mind drew a blank, and erupted in a spasm of pain.

I squeezed my eyes shut and let it pass. When I wrenched them open again, I saw Shadow Dark Lord standing over me, the look in his uncovered eyes radiated neither pity nor disgust. It was a neutral, matter-of-fact expression. It was like I was looking at the real Dark Lord.

Except, he wouldn't conjure another giant killer shuriken when I'm already down, would he?

_That's it_, I thought. Might as well leave the face of this world gracefully. The pain wasn't so bad anymore. All I felt was a dull aching throb at my side.

I closed my eyes; I didn't want to have Dark Lord's crazy clone as the last thing I see. Instead, I chose darkness. The very essence of the profession I prize so much; thievery. Speed, reliability, stealth, cloaked secrecy.

Shadow Dark Lord's about to fling the shuriken at me, aiming just right over my heart. He won't miss, I know.

I just waited.

**This is not where you fall...You are not finished, not until you accomplish your destiny...But very well, I will lend you some power...**

In an instant, I was up, I was moving. I barely had time to register Shadow Dark Lord's interesting aura of surprise before I noticed that I was on the other side of the cavern.

_Wha—?, _I started to think, but another voice inside of me ordered that I just go with it and ask questions later.

In a flash, Shadow Dark Lord appeared in front of me again, but this time, I could actually see him running towards me. His movements too... I anticipated every move he planned to make, blocking them without a problem.

I was... swifter. I tested out this theory and got to another far end in almost a blink of an eye.

I have no idea how or why but it's as if I know what to do almost without thinking. I knew I wasn't possessed or anything but it seemed that my body was naturally moving on its own. As if it was fuelled entirely by instinct.

_Swipe. Parry. Thrust._

On every area we crossed blades upon, my hand slipped into my pocket and pulled out a flat, gold coin.

They then get dropped on the ground and we somehow move on to another place in the cavern.

I didn't know what these coins were or anything. But I didn't question fate and just went with it. Somehow, it felt like _I_ was directing this fight; successfully manoeuvring my opponent wherever I want before discreetly leaving another coin on the ground.

I blocked Shadow Dark Lord's furious strikes a couple more times before engaging with him in a sword lock.

Our blades clanged together deafeningly. His eyes displayed absolute hatred this time but I was guessing that mine displayed something as tough.

After a moment of staring one another down, we added slightly more pressure that our daggers repelled from each other.

Both of us ended up at the far ends of the cavern on opposite sides.

Shadow Dark Lord started to come after me again, ploughing his way in my direction.

Then, it hit me. I looked his way, and then glanced at the ground around him.

I smirked and snapped my fingers.

A distinct sound was heard. A soft *_click_*.

The coins set on the ground exploded in lovely unison, leaving the cavern flooded with a thick, dusty mist.

When the mist cleared, I looked over to where Shadow Dark Lord was standing. He was no more. In the rubble though, a black medal was lying conspicuously among the fragments of shattered rock.

Picking it up, I examined my new found prize and slipped it in my pocket.

* * *

"Your clone's a bitch."

Dark Lord acknowledged my words as he examined the medal, as though determining if it was real. After a quick minute, he nodded.

"I am impressed. Usually bandits take much longer to return to me with this, and rarely do they come back unharmed."

"How long is usual?"

He eyed me calculatingly. "Certainly longer than an hour, my student."

He clenched the medal, and it dissipated into black smoke.

"In any case, your task is done. You have proven your strength. But now, you must prove your wisdom. Travel to El Nath, and speak to Arec, in the cabin on the highest peak in the town. He will explain your second task."

"Very well."

* * *

"Dude, you're being sent out for Third, already?"

"Well, at least it shows you've been training. Going all the way to El Nath sounds like a waste of time, though."

"But to be a Third! That's like, one of the best things any Mapler could hope for! Gosh, you're so lucky!"

"This will be good for you...for all of us."

The reactions of my friends were as such when I had told them what Dark Lord had instructed of me. Wanting to do this as soon as possible, I headed to the Ellinia station the next day. Rise had followed to see me off, whereas the other three decided to do some intensive training, so they could "catch up with that overpowered asshole", as quoted from Roy.

As we arrived at the station, we could hear the final call for the ship due to Orbis. As I ran off, I heard her call after me.

"Good luck! Please come back safe!"

"I will! Then we'll go out!" I yelled back. Even from a distance, I saw the color in her face rise. She just smiled, and waved at me. I waved back, and dived onto the ship as it just started to set sail.

* * *

**You are on the right path, to fulfilling your destiny...**

My eyes flew open. I was in the ship's cabin, having just woken up. Odd, I didn't remember falling asleep. Also, I realized that I've been getting these strange dreams, but when I wake up, I wouldn't remember them. Paying it no mind, I heard the announcement saying we would be arriving at the Orbis station shortly.

Not wanting to waste any time, I headed straight to Orbis Tower. Peering out of one of the windows, I saw the snowy town of El Nath. However, this tower still challenged me with it's bothersome floors of twenty.

_I don't have time for this...There must be a quicker way down this damn tower._

"Ready for deployment!"

I looked to my right. On the windowsill beside me, was a ridiculously short man in a green jumpsuit with goggles on his head. More importantly, he was carrying a parachute.

_Hmm...Am I really going to do this?_

I noted that he had another bag with him as well. Probably a spare chute. I would've asked him for it, but he crouched down and leaped off the window ledge

_Shit. Well, here goes._

And I followed suit.

Deciding that asking now would not probably be such a good idea, I angled my fall to face him. He hadn't noticed me there, so I came up with a plan. Gathering some energy, I focused on his parachute, willing it to be in my possession. In one swift movement, the shadow that my body cast on the tower took a full shape, and dived out to the man. It came back as quickly as it did, and the next thing I knew, the parachute was in my hands. He had not noticed anything, it seemed, for he continued his descent. As he reached for the string to release his parachute, only then did he realize it was gone.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

The man fumbled around with his second backpack, and opened it, pulling out an umbrella.

_Oh. Not a spare._

Luckily, the umbrella managed to support his weight, and his descent slowed.

Not wanting to be at the same altitude, I pulled the string on the chute. It billowed out behind me, and my fall to death was prevented. Trying my best to steer this thing, I aimed myself to the town, particularly the cabin at the highest peak of the town. As I got closer, I tried my best not to slam into a cliff or any other building, but I was coming in too quickly. I closed my eyes and braced for impact.

**_FWUMP._**

Upon opening my eyes, I saw that I was standing on my feet. The parachute had spread out safely behind me. And I was at the front door of the cabin.

_Sweet._

I knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, this strange green creature opened it from the inside. It gave me a glare, but I didn't want to look at it, lest I break the status quo of my emotions and insult him. He really was an ugly sap. Walking past him, I took in my surroundings. I was in a large cabin, with a cozy fire crackling in the fireplace. Sitting around in lounge chairs were several hooded people.

I noted five of them. Four of which didn't strike any sense of importance to me. To their respective classes, maybe. One of them had a scar on his face in the shape of an 'X'. I opened my mouth to speak, but he held his hand up.

"I know why you are here, young bandit."

"Oh," I began. "So wha-"

He stopped me again. "You will be tested on your knowledge. Gain the mark of wisdom, and your task will be done."

"Wait, what do you mean by te-"

"I will not wait. Are you ready to begin?"

_Stupid arrogant bastard._

"I am."

"First question : What color Athena Pierce's eyes?"

_What the fuck? How am I supposed to know something like that?_

"Uh." _Okay, archers have dexterity. Green for dexterity, right? _"Green?"

"Correct."

_Oh. Sweet._

"Second. What is a thief's main stat?"

_Oh, this is easy._

"Luck."

"Third. Which monster is sighted on the boats from Ellinia to Orbis?"

_Wow, I guess I really do have luck._

"Crimson Balrogs."

"Fourth. What is two to the power of thirty-two, minus one?"

_What kind of stupid question is this? _I took a chance, and flipped my phone open. He didn't object, so I continued and typed in the value in my calculator.

"2,147,483,647?"

"Fifth. What are you hoping to accomplish by taking this test?"

"My third job advancement?"

"Very well," he nodded. "You have proven your knowledge. I grant you the mark of wisdom."

"Okay."

"You have acquired the mark of strength and wisdom. You have proven your capability as a mapler. From this moment on, you will be a Chief Bandit."

A surge of energy, similar like the one I received when I advanced to bandit, only stronger, flowed into me.

"Come," he smirked at me. "You have many skills to learn."

* * *

**Author's Notes : **_CHAPTER 9 IS UP! First, I must apologize to ALL you readers for the retardedly long wait. To justify myself, I have been undergoing my SPM examination (That's kinda like SATs where i'm from). Please forgive =( So...reviewer responses!_

_Blinded by the Moonlight : Because the Black Magician is important enough to have one whole blob of text all for himself. If I made a sucky main character, the story wouldn't go that far. Don't worry though, I have a reason for his overpoweredness ;) just keep reading and you'll see. I can't expect to make them train at normal speed can I? Otherwise i'd have 5 chapters of "I whacked the windraider. Then I whacked it again. Then I whacked another windraider." Hope you enjoy the story nevertheless =)_

_The 21 blue dudes : There will be character development, worry not :D I have each of their backstories planned out. 4th job will be a cinch, at least for Trane, you will see why soon. Yes, but going to ElNath and back to Kerning, then back to ElNath AGAIN would be a bother, so. Magical improvisation! Hope you stay with the story :D_

_Insanity's Light : Is he a good guy? You'll find out soon. Hope you stay with the story ;D_

Next time : Chief Bandit's skills, a gift from dad?


	10. Let's spar

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

I walked up the steps of Orbis tower, grumbling at the outcome of the supposed "training" with Arec. While walking, I came across a strange ball-like creature. It was floating, and seemed harmless enough, so I ignored it and began walking past it. Then I heard steam hissing from it, and whipped my head around to see it open up it's shell to reveal a barrel of a small cannon. As it took it's time to charge up the shot, I reached for my dagger, but ended up grabbing only the sheath, for the blade was gone.

_Stupid Arec._

**FLASHBACK!**

In the snowy training ground of El Nath, light clashing of blades could be heard, but the only thing to be seen were two rapidly moving blurs. I managed to keep up with Arec in terms of strength and speed, albeit being a little slower than him. After a few minutes of sparring, he spoke to me.

"It looks quite clear that you have perfect control of a dagger."

"I suppose it does." I replied. Trying to start a conversation with him was a waste of time, but it saved time for more training, so I didn't complain.

"Now, let us go through the skills and tricks that a Chief Bandit has at his disposal. First of all, is the Assaulter. It allows you to attack a single opponent with incredible power and speed. In fact, the caster will move so fast that it is near impossible to see his movement until he stops. Also, this skill is quite close to teleporting, as we may move from one spot to another at the blink of an eye."

_Is that what I did during the fight with Dark Lord's clone? But, how was I able to do that if I haven't learned these skills yet?_

"The next skill is Meso Explosion. It allows us to destroy any amount of mesos in our sight with an explosion. Although you may think it as wasteful, the damage of the explosion is proportional to the amount of mesos exploded, allowing us to deal astoundingly high damage to its surroundings. This also allows us to manipulate any battle to our favour by placing mesos at certain locations, ultimately boxing in our opponent to inevitable defeat."

_Strange...this is the first time I'm hearing of these skills, but why is it that I know how they work?_

"There are of course, more skills, but those require time to learn, something I cannot be bothered to provide you with. You can read the skillbook you received earlier for information about them and anything else you need." Suddenly, he got into his battle stance again, with a dagger in his right hand. "Now come at me, and attack using your new skills."

I drew my dagger, and we both stood still for a few moments. _I won't hold my breath,_ I thought, and prepared to attack. Adjusting my feet to gain a solid grip, I focused my vision on Arec. Attempting to recall my actions from the last time I used the skill, I concentrated some mana into my legs, and lunged forward. In a fraction of a second, I was right in front of him. I saw his face widen slightly in shock, then revert just as quickly. Our blades clashed and I ended up behind him. The wind blew by furiously a second later, trying to catch up with the speed of my movement. I turned my head slightly and noticed him.

He hadn't moved in the slightest and managed to block my attack with his dagger.

"Not bad for your first attempt."

The moment I stood back up, I immediately sensed a presence appearing to my right. I looked to the right and saw this absurdly large man dressed in a training suit with a headband on his head. More importantly, his arms were spread outward, and were quickly closing on either side of me, attempting to clap me into mush like he would a fly. I dived out of the attack and prepared to strike back, when he suddenly disappeared. The next moment, another figure appeared right behind me. This one had a basket-like helmet on his head and a monk's staff, which was swinging for my legs. I backflipped out of the way, the staff missing my feet by inches. When I was still in the air, yet another person showed up. This figure was a girl with purple hair and red clothing. She made a seal with her hands, and a purple light slashed out from behind her. I barely managed to block it with my dagger, but the force of the attack send me flying to the ground. I landed on the ground hard, but on my feet. Looking up at the sky, the girl had disappeared. Taking a guess, i looked to my left and swung my dagger. The next moment, I felt it connect with another blade. A samurai like figure had showed up, and blocked my wild attack with one of his own. Recovering from the recoil of the attack, I failed to notice one more person appear in front of me. Before I knew it, he connected his fist with my stomach, and I flew backwards into the snow.

Using the momentum of the fall, I rolled backwards onto my feet, back into my battle stance. Arec still had not moved from his spot, and he chuckled.

"Band Of Thieves. Now, come at me."

I sprinted towards him again, and as I did, I flung a coin forward, aiming for his face. Before it reached him, however, he threw his own coin, ricocheting off mine. He began throwing stars at me at a rapid rate, forcing me to use Assaulter to dodge them. When he finally stopped, I did too.

"It allows us to manipulate any battle to our favour..."

At that moment, another star came whizzing at me. I raised my dagger, successfully blocking it, but the speed behind the star knocked the dagger out of my hands. It flew in the air for a few seconds before landing in the snow.

*Chink*

_Wait. That isn't snow!_

"By placing mesos at certain locations..."

The impact of the dagger hitting it's soon to be grave caused the snow to fall off, revealing it to be in fact embedded in a large sack of mesos.

"Ultimately boxing in our opponents..."

_Shit!_

My eyes widening at what I knew was about to happen, I dived backwards to avoid the blast.

Arec smirked.

"To inevitable defeat." He snapped his fingers, and the ominous click sound was heard. A large explosion occured that could be seen from the outskirts of the town.

As the dust started clearing away, I glanced at the spot where the explosion had taken place. There was a small crater, and my dagger was nowhere to be seen. I turned to Arec and glared at him.

"You blew up my dagger..."

He looked back at me with an analyzing look.

"Don't complain. You may be good with a one, but you don't favour using them. Is that true?"

_How did he-?_

For the past few weeks, I've been unhappy about the fact that daggers have a short reach and was only able to do fatal damage by stabbing. I also felt that daggers are just flimsy when I use them. I seem to have had all my previous daggers destroyed too.

"...yes." I replied.

"Then here is a bit of good news for you." He said. "As you are now a 3rd jobber, you are allowed to use any piece of equipment you wish, as long as it does not hinder your skills."

_Meaning no more daggers?_

"That does not mean you will receive a new weapon from me." He finished.

_What?_

"But you destroyed my dagge-" I started. It was expensive too.

"Training is over. I have done what I can. I wish you luck on your journey, Chief Bandit." He said, before disappearing. Leaving me alone. Weaponless.

_...Asshole._

**FLASHBACK OVER!**

Cursing at Arec again, I whipped out my sheath and threw it at the sentinel with full force. The impact caused it to snap closed again and fall to the ground, stunned. Sighing, I picked it up and threw it out the nearest window.

* * *

Upon reaching Orbis, I realized that I haven't seen my uncle in ages. I decided to pay him a visit. A few seconds after knocking on his door, he opened it, and stood in the doorway. Good old uncle Griggs. He hadn't changed a bit. Big and bulky as always, with short black hair and a contrastingly long moustache and beard that reached his collar bones. Upon looking at me, a warm smile crossed his face.

"You've gotten much stronger." He said and let me in.

We spent about three hours talking about our respective lives, and when I brought up being promoted to third job, his eyes lit up.

"Third job? That means you can use any weapon, right?"

"I can. Although, I seem to be...lacking one at the moment."

He appeared to ignore me, instead he walked to a safe and opened it. Curiously, I wondered what he was taking. He turned back and place a large bag on the table.

"Go on." He urged.

Nodding, I opened the bag. The contents inside were a long black trenchcoat, and a long, thin box. Opening the box revealed an intricate katana. I picked it up, and immediately realized that it fit perfectly in my grip. It felt comfortable, as if it was made for me. Drawing the katana exposed the most flawless and perfectly crafted blade I have ever seen. I did a practice swing, and accidentally hit one of the chairs. Instead of chipping the wood, the blade sliced right through it like melted butter. A second later, the chair fell to the ground in two perfect halves. Uncle Griggs and I stared at his chair, then he shook his head.

"Well, I break more of those than you do everyday." He said, chuckling. Then, his voice grew serious, and he looked at me.

"Trane...these are from your father."

I looked at him with wide eyes.

"My father..? But..he vanished before I ever got to know him. Him and Mom both..."

He looked at me sadly. "You're father fought in the great war against the Black Magician. He suddenly disappeared off the battlefield, and we thought he had perished. You're mother was pregnant with you at the time, and when she heard the news, the stress was too much. She died at childbirth."

I was stunned for a minute. I had always thought that they abandoned me...

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked him.

"You were too young at the time. Then a few years ago, I received this package and a letter from him. He told me that you would need these in the upcoming battle, and that I should only tell you when you're ready to receive it."

_So Dad knew about it...and he left these things for me. This must mean he's still alive, so I must find him._

"It's been great seeing you, Uncle Griggs. Thank you for telling me everything. Now I should go, the ship will be leaving soon."

I stood up and put the black trenchcoat on. It was surprisingly light, it weighed almost nothing. I held the sheathed katana in my left hand. Opening the door, the light breeze made the coat billow slightly in the wind.

_Damn, I look bad-ass._

Uncle Griggs called out to me. "Travel safe! And Trane...I'm sorry if you think I've been holding out on you, kiddo."

"It's alright. What I want to know, is how he knows about the upcoming battle." I replied, still facing the door.

He looked at me puzzledly. "What battle?"

I turned my head slightly.

"The Black Magician has returned." I said, and left.

* * *

When the ship arrived at Ellinia, I was surprised to see Risette, Roy, Desmond and Chihiro there waiting for me. When they saw me, they waved, Chihiro a bit more hyper as usual. I smiled and waved back.

Roy came up to me first and sized me up. After a while, he broke into a grin.

"Damn, man, why do you have to look so cool?"

With the wind blowing my hair AND my coat, I had to agree with him.

Chihiro came next. "You're using a new weapon too! Are you allowed to use anything besides a dagger?"

"Apparently I am." I replied.

Risette showed up, and smiled at me. I havent seen that smile in a long time, and it must have sparked some feelings, for I felt myself blush.

"Hi." I managed to say.

Chihiro started blurting, "OOH, you should've heard Risette when you were gone, she wouldn't stop whining about how you weren't here and that she-MMPH MMPH MMMMMPH!"

Risette had covered her mouth with her hand, and her face was as red as her hair. "Heheh...Hi."

Desmond walked up, apparently taking his sweet time to get here. Lazy as always.

"Soo..you're a third jobber now, huh?" His eyebrow raised and a smirk started to form on his face. "Wanna have a little sparring session to see how well you fight?"

"Whoo, good plan!" Roy pumped his fist in the air.

I considered it. "Fine, who's gonna take me on?"

Roy immediately answered with glee. "All of us!"

"That's not quite fair." I answered shortly.

Desmond thought about it for a while. "Alright, then it'll be you and Risette against Roy, Chihiro and I. You'd be holding back against Risette anyway."

I fought the slight blush. "Okay. Where and when?"

We had been walking for a while, and had stopped at The Tree That Grew. No one was around, and Roy noticed that quickly. His hand reached behind his shoulder, gripping the handle of his massive sword.

"How bout here, and now?" He yelled and ran forward.

_He's gotten quite faster than before,_ I noted. As he approached, he drew his sword and swung it in a downwards arc. I raised the sheath of the katana with my left hand and blocked the attack head on. Somehow, the sheath was strong enough to hold its own against his behemoth of a sword. His eyes widened in shock and anger, and he started to apply more force to the attack. Immediately, I felt myself being pushed back by his brute strength.

_His strength has improved more so._

I shifted my weight and angled the sheath so his sword moved directly to the ground, away from me. As it struck the ground, the branch we were standing on splintered and ultimately shattered due to the force with which it was hit. I leaped upwards in a blur and landed on a higher branch. A few seconds later, Chihiro and Desmond landed on a branch a few metres away from mine, and Risette appeared next to me in a blue flash of light.

_Ooh, she teleports._

We stood for a few seconds in silence, save for the rustling of the leaves, waiting for someone to make the first move.

Risette was in her battle stance, standing with her staff held outward, her red hair and robes flowing in the wind.

Realizing that I was staring, I got into my battle stance as well. I bent my knees slightly, and drew my dagg-

_Oh, right._

I ended up keeping my stance while holding the katana reversed in my hand, but as it was much longer than a dagger, I looked like an idiot.

Chihiro had her bow at the ready, two arrows nocked and ready to fire at the slightest release of her fingers.

Desmond had his hands in his pockets, knowing that he was too far to actually hit anything yet, and decided not to bother being in his stance yet.

Another long moment passed, and Chihiro decided to start the battle. She released the two arrows, one at each of us. Risette teleported away to safety while i shifted my body to the side, allowing the arrow to whiz by my head by an inch. Suddenly, The branch I was on shook, and I looked down to see Roy running up the trunk of the tree, snarling and grinning at the same time. I jumped off the branch, away from him for now and towards Desmond and Chihiro. Chihiro, who knew she was not good in close combat, jumped up and out of my sight. I couldn't see where she went, because a second later, Desmond was right in front of me, his fist swinging to my head.

I ducked it easily, but immediately following his first punch, a second uppercut came at an even faster speed. I sidestepped him and hit him with the base of my katana. He raised his knee to block the full force of the strike, but still was pushed backwards. Before he stopped sliding, however, he pulled his fist back and punched. The force of his punch threw his whole body forward, and the air around his fist swirled around it like a corkscrew. Caught by surprise, I hastily flipped over him, feeling the wind rush by from his attack. As I landed, I spun around to see him stop, but not turn back to face me. Instead, he raised his arm up again and swung it backwards, elbow first. The same concept of the speed throwing him in the direction of his attack allowed me to anticipate the attack and block it. I was about to counter-attack when I heard an arrow whistling in the wind. I jumped back, and the arrow hit the spot where I was standing moments ago, and exploded. Distracted, and since I couldn't see Desmond through the smoke, and neither could he see me, I looked up to see Chihiro on a high branch, aiming another arrow, with an explosive stick of dynamite tied around it. Before she could fire it, she was hit by a ball of blue energy. She yelped in surprise and jumped away. A second later, Risette teleported to the same branch and gave me a smile.

I smiled back momentarily, then ducked under a kick from Desmond. He proceeded to launch a flurry of fast punches and kicks, all of which I dodged easily, waiting for him to tire and when he did, I gave him a swift kick to the gut, sending him backwards again. Suddenly, Roy jumped up from below and swung his sword at me. I flipped away and landed in between Roy and Desmond. Just then, Chihiro reappeared on a nearby branch, and Risette on another. Risette made the first move, and swung her staff downwards, summoning her magic.

_Come to think of it, I don't know what element she uses. Assuming she has red hair, and likes red robes, I assume fire?_

Her staff glowed slightly, and several shards of ice formed out of thin air.

_Ice. I meant ice._

The shards flew towards Chihiro at high speed and hit her. Surprised, she yelled again and fell off the branch.

_Guess she's out of the fight._

As she fell, she aimed her bow one more time at me, drawing the string back. A shimmer of light appeared at the bow, and a glowing yellow arrow formed.

Casting Haste, everything seemed to slow down for a while. She released the shining arrow and it flew straight for me before falling out of sight. At the same moment, Roy and Desmond started to run towards me.

_Guess it's time to get serious._

I drew my katana and spun in a circular motion. First, I cleaved the Soul Arrow into two perfect halves, letting then fly harmlessly by either side of me. Then, using the sheath, I smacked Desmond upside the head, sending him flying. Finally, I turned to face Roy. Pouring mana into my legs, I dashed towards him using Assaulter, but instead of delivering the fatal blow, I struck his sword out of his hand, sending it spinning in to the air as well. I appeared behind him, spun my katana and began sheathing it.

_Okay, this part is all about timing._

I sheathed it slowly, waiting for the right moment. I fully sheathed the sword with a click and deactivated Haste. The next instant came three simultaneous actions. The two halves of the arrow hit a nearby branch. Desmond landed on the ground with a thud. And Roy's sword embedded itself in the ground.

* * *

**Author's Notes : **_Okay, chapter 10 is here. I APOLOGIZE for not updating in a long time, but I've been kinda busy lately. I will not update the next chapter until I get at least 3 reviews, so get reviewing. I know you readers exist =[_


	11. Using the Darkness

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

Desmond

Silence continued to fill the air for a few seconds before I recovered. When I opened my eyes, my vision was still foggy from the hit.

_Damn, he hits hard._

"Ow." I grimaced, sitting up while holding my chin. My head was still buzzing from the impact.

_He got a really good hit on me. Luckily he was pulling the swing, but damn, I couldn't see it coming at all._

I need to train more, I've been slacking way too much lately. I must keep getting stronger if I want to save...him.

Roy

I blinked, taking in the scene before me. One moment ago, I was sure we had him. Next thing I knew, Desmond's on the ground and so is my sword. Now that I think about it, even Chihiro's arrow was blocked. Is there that much of a difference in power between a second and third jobber?

_Well, he ain't gonna have this advantage for long._

I gave Desmond my hand, lifting him back up to his feet. I need to get stronger, I cannot accept being weak!

Trane

The two of them looked at me, minds elsewhere. At the same time, Roy walked up and yanked his sword out of the ground, blowing off as much dust as possible before sheathing it behind his back. He walked back to Desmond and muttered to him softly. Then he looked back at me.

"Well, that was fun and stuff. I think me and Desmond here are gonna go do some training. Catch ya next time, man. I expect a rematch!" He said, and they both walked off.

I acknowledged them, then chose to peer below the branch we stood on. Chihiro and Risette had yet to show up.

_Could they still be fighting?_

I'd go down and help Risette, but that would make the fight unfair. And I think they'd both scold me for it. One thing about girls I'll never get : They get mad at you when you dont help them, then when you do help, they get mad because we "think they can't handle it by themselves".

_Tch. I'll just wait here._

I leaned back against the tree, when suddenly my mind froze over, and a cold voice spoke. It was the same chilling feeling that I felt before. Fear. Despair. Evil.

**You are doing well...but time is not on our side. I have no choice...but to give you more of my power.**

This time, I was able to reply with my own thoughts.

_What do you mean? Who are you? What power?_

The voice laughed, a cruel chuckle that showed no sense of humor.

**You should hope that you live after this.**

_Live? What the fu-_

My thoughts were interrupted by a streak of pain that enclosed my mind. It hurt too much to even scream out in pain. At the same time, a form of energy flowed into my body. It was similar to the energy I received at my job advancements, but also very different in the sense that it didn't just make me feel stronger, it burned with an intent so violent, so evil that I felt that my blood would boil, literally. My vision quickly deteriorated, and I looked down to see my hand encasing itself in a pitch black substance like a shadow. It burned like fire and crackled like electricity. But on my skin, felt ice cold. Then my vision went black and I gave in to the pain, feeling myself fall off the branch. The last thing I recall was falling...falling, and a scream. Then silence...and darkness.

* * *

Immediately, my eyes shot open. I found myself in complete darkness. I noticed that my senses were dead, as in I could smell and hear nothing.

_I've been here before...but when?_

A fog started swirling in from nowhere.

**Let us see...if you can grasp the power you now command. If you cannot...this is the end for you.**

The fog surrounded me, and I instantly felt myself getting colder by the second. My feet would not move, so I couldn't escape it. It began getting harder to breathe. I gasped for air, with little success. I had to do something fast, or else I'm gonna end up dying here. Following by instinct rather than strategy, I raised my arm out and swung it outwards. At once, my breathing resumed, air filling my lungs gratifyingly.

I looked around, still seeing nothing but black. Raising my arm up to eye-level, I splayed by hand outward. The darkness was immediately absorbed into it, flowing like a vacuum. In place of the darkness revealed the interior of what seemed to be a castle hall. Hallways and stairs branched out from every angle, but right ahead was a large door. I began walking to it when it suddenly covered itself with red electricity.

**You may not enter that doorway...not yet.**

_What's in there?_

**All in due time. More importantly, you have succeeded in controlling my power.**

I looked at my hand again, this time summoning the darkness I absorbed. I felt it ignite in my palm, a seemingly black fire, with occasional streaks of electricity. The streaks were also black, but were outlined with white, making it visible amongst the fire. I took my attention off it, and it instantly disappeared. I seemed to be doing things by instinct lately.

**Now leave. The next time we speak, it will be face to face. And the next time, you will fulfill your destiny...**

At that, the voice laughed again. It filled my head, and my mind wiped itself of consciousness.

* * *

When I came to, I was in the middle of Henesys. People were hurrying about, carrying construction equipment and working on repairing the buildings. A group of them caught sight of me, and jumped back in surprise.

"AAAIIIEEEE!"

"What? What?" I exclaimed. Was there something on my face?

"You-" One of them stammered, "Y-y-you appeared out of thin air!"

_...Oh?_

"More importantly, it seems like Henesys is being rebuilt." I pointed out.

"Oh..yeah..A couple of weeks ago, the barrier and fires here suddenly weakened and faded. Almost at the same time, Athenia Pierce recovered fully, and the first thing we have to do is reconstruct the damages here. People are saying that whatever evil power that did this might be weakening."

The next moment, a sudden rush of air was heard beside me. I looked at the disturbance to see a space of air compressing, as if making way for something. Suddenly, a red haired girl appeared out of the space, followed by another girl and two guys. The red haired girl looked at me with bright brown eyes, that were slowly tearing up.

"Risette? Wha-GURF!" I began talking when she grabbed me in the tightest hug imaginable.

"DON'T EVER DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT AGAIN!" She yelled, shaking me in the process.

I looked at her, wide-eyed.

"What do you mean disappear?"

She let go of me, and I took the chance to breathe again. She stared into my eyes for a long moment before speaking.

"You...vanished. For three weeks."

_Three weeks?_

"Vanished..?" I started.

"It was back at the day we sparred. Chihiro and I were still fighting when she said she heard something falling. We looked up and saw you. You looked unconscious, and you were falling. We tried to catch you before you hit the ground but...a strange shadow covered you and when it disappeared...so did you." Her voice had dropped to a whisper.

"It's true! Like, you were falling, then suddenly POOF, you're gone!" Chihiro added.

Taking in the information, I came to a conclusion in my mind.

_That castle...Did I really go there? But for so long...It felt like a minute there..._

"I'm sorry.."

She looked back at me, her eyes glazed with tears.

"It's ok, what's important is that you're back." She said, smiling.

Looking back at Risette, I realized she looked different. She was wearing a new set of robes, still red of course, but looked more like a floor-length dress. It made her look, if possible, even more beautiful than ever. Instead of her staff, she had in her hands a white fan with a red circle in the middle.

Come to think of it, they all had different equipment. Chihiro still had her bow, but wore a white sweater and a short beige skirt, and a long red scarf wrapped around her neck, reaching down to her waist. Desmond had a black t-shirt with a flaming skull on it with white slacks and studded boots. Instead of being weaponless, on his fists were dangerous looking gauntlets with claws coming out of them.

Roy, I noticed, had changed the most. First of all, his spiky hair had grown longer, to the point where it was impossible to still be spiked in that fashion, but somehow defies physics to be spiked anyway. He had a black turtleneck covered in buckles and belt straps. He had on pauldrons, and his right arm was sleeveless while his left had baggy sleeves and he wore black ripped jeans. Looking closer, all the belt straps seemed to in fact, be a massive and complex looking holster for not one, but three swords. Sheathed vertically was the larger of the blades. It looked much like a normal greatsword, but I noticed several slots, and that the blade itself was much smaller than the size of the hilt. Horizontally, facing either side, were two identical swords, still awkwardly large and only slightly smaller than the main sword.

"Well. You all look different."

Roy pumped his fist in the air.

"Third job baby! All of us! And with you being gone, I'll bet I'm at the same level as you, if not stronger!"

I eyed him. He seemed extremely confident, but then again, so do I.

"We DO have a rematch to settle." Desmond noted.

* * *

The next day, when we had all settled what happened while I was gone, and gotten some much-longed-for food and rest, we agreed to split up. Risette and Chihiro wanted to go do something I didn't hear. Shopping or something. Desmond, Roy and I stood on the top the abandoned construction site near Kerning City, on a crane. Roy was sitting on the top of the driver's compartment, and Desmond was leaning on it's wall. I stood further from them, nearer to the edge. A minute passed in silence, and I appreciated the time I could spend with my friends, and basked in the peace, even if it was just for a while. Deciding it was time, I turned back and walked towards them.

"Shall we, then?"

Roy jumped off the compartment, and Desmond opened his eyes, apparently taking a nap before.

"We were waiting for you, wise guy."

"Well I'm glad to see you still think so highly of me." I replied, drawing my katana.

Roy drew one of his side swords, angling it so it shined in the sun.

Desmond tightened his gauntlets, flexing his fingers and wrists. He took a quick glance at Roy.

"Don't swing your sword recklessly like last time."

"Heh, whatever!" Roy yelled in reply, charging at me, Desmond following close behind.

Desmond pulled his fist back, charging a Corkscrew Blow while running. Upon releasing it, he shot forwards in front of Roy, making him the more immediate threat. I parried his punch with my sword, knowing that I could swing without risk of cutting his arms now that he has those gauntlets. Then I raised my sword and blocked Roy's. Desmond took the opportunity to manoeuvre behind me.

They both attacked consecutively, one attack after the other in rapid succession. Keeping up with their speed was child's play, and also, it seemed none of us was using our full strength yet. I cast a Double Stab, aiming the first attack at Desmond and spinning around quickly to strike Roy with the second swing. This resulted in the both of them being pushed back. They paused for a moment, and as if coming to a silent agreement, charged in at the same time. Moving quickly, I shifted my body to a safe location and at swung my sword out it an angle where it perfectly caught Roy's blade and Desmond's fist. The blades grinded together for a second before I swung my sword, forcing Desmond back on Roy's side.

They continued coming at me, showing evidence that they had trained a lot together, and were familiar with each other's moves. It still wasn't a problem to defend against these attacks, though.

Right. Left. Up.

After dodging the three hit combo from Desmond, I glimpsed Roy flipping above him, his sword swinging downwards. I leapt backwards, and he struck the beam of the crane, denting it slightly with the impact. Looking up again, Desmond was in the air, flipping rapidly. He was surrounded by a sleek blue aura, forming a bubble shaped sphere around him. I blocked his punch, but when he punched, it rippled and exploded at the wall of the bubble he made contact with, increasing the force of his punch by an insane amount. I quickly swung at him before he could strike again, effectively knocking him away.

Roy was running at me again, sword drawn. He did another three hit combo, which I blocked effortlessly. Holding the last attack upon our swords, I smirked at him.

"Now, how about putting away that toy sword?" I said, wanting him to switch to the larger one to show me what the purpose was for carrying three massive blades. With that, I pushed him back, where Desmond was.

Desmond looked at me and chuckled.

"As expected of Trane, huh?"

"Desmond," Roy held his arm out, blocking Desmond. "Stand back. I'd like to have a duel with Trane."

"Roy!" Desmond exclaimed.

Roy reached back and drew the larger sword. With the smaller one in his other hand, he flicked his wrist, and the sword folded like a switchblade knife. He placed the smaller sword in the larger one, fitting it into one of the slots and locking it in. At once, the power he was emanating increased tremendously, as if the combined swords had doubled his strength.

"It's time to show you what I can do."

I looked at his blade, then back at him. I scoffed. I was confident that he still wouldn't be a threat.

"Hmph. Come and try."

"That laxness of yours. How long will it last?" He yelled, running towards me, much faster than before.

I blocked his downward strike and countered with a horizontal strike. He ducked under it, and spun around swinging the massive blade overhead and back down towards me. I raised my sheath and blocked it. The impact of the weapons colliding formed a small crater on the crane. His attack had indeed increased greatly. I smirked, and he replied with one of his own.

_Looks like he's starting to get a little serious._

I added more pressure on my arm, and pushed him back. He flipped backwards with more grace than I ever expected him to have, landed on his feet, and instantly dashed towards me again. He unleashed a flurry of consecutive attacks, and I blocked them, although he was definitely pushing me back to the edge of the crane. This did not make me happy. It was time I got a little more serious too.

"Tch." I muttered as I blocked his next attack with my sheath. I pushed outward, making him slide backwards from the force. Before he recovered, I used Assaulter to get right in front of him, slashing downwards. He managed to block it, but ended up sliding back even further. I cast another Assaulter, this time slashing upwards. He blocked it, but flew into the air as a result. I casted Haste and leaped after him, catching up easily. I used a Savage Blow to break through his defense and knock him back down.

He flipped and recovered while still in the air. Glaring at me, he gripped his sword with both hands, and I felt him focusing his energy. A light blue ring formed around him, and around the edges of it, several blue orbs appeared, circling him around the ring. Yelling, he swung his sword multiple times, sending the orbs at me. The first two missed me completely, but I was forced to hit the third one because I was unable to dodge due to being in the air. It dissipated into nothing, but almost instantly formed back behind me. I saw Roy tighten the grip on his sword, and I heard the orbs behind me spin around and head straight towards me. I blocked one, two, three. But they kept forming back around me and would definitely cause some serious damage. I concentrated on the back of my mind, thinking back to the time I used the darkness. At once, my body covered itself in the black flames, shielding me from the damage completely.

Through the attack, I saw him charging up another one, as if it being a finisher. He was halted, however, by Desmond grabbing his wrist.

"Stop. You're gonna kill us all." To answer him, Roy grabbed him by his collar, his eyes blazing with fury.

"ALL I WANT IS TO SHOW THAT I'M NOT WEAK!" He screamed, and threw Desmond down, back towards the crane.

Seeing that, I was suddenly furious that he would go to that extent, and my mind wrapped in a sudden but slight chill.

**_That's it._** The voice was mine, but had the same cold air as the voice from before.

The dark fire protecting me from the attack expanded, dispelling the blue orbs completely. I swung my sword, pouring dark energy into it, causing a wave to erupt from the swing. It caught Roy by surprise, pushing him downwards. I swung two more times, which he blocked with his sword. The first wave had passed him and the crane below. The edge of the crane was sliced perfectly following the cut, and it slowly slid down and fell towards the ground. As Roy landed, I swung again, sending another razor sharp wave. He jumped back, and I landed on the slowly falling section.

I stayed on it, allowing it to slowly slide me out of his view while I sheathed the katana, compressing the dark energy I poured inside. A second after he disappeared from my sight, I jumped forward. I unsheathed my katana swung rapidly with a Savage Blow, dicing the beams in front of me, heading right towards Roy. His face widened in shock as he dodged backwards. I landed on the crane and swung forwards. He blocked it and managed to push my sword back, but I swung it forward again almost immediately. The blade crackled with darkness, and easily cut through the support beams of the crane. I forced him backwards, paying no mind to the fact that I was chopping up the crane into ribbons while I walked forward. Our blades met, but his surprise left it at an odd angle, which I took advantage of immediately, swinging forward, and he flew back and hit the ground.

Using the momentum, he kicked upwards and landed on his feet again. I leaped into the air, preparing for another strike. He gripped his sword, and formed the blue orbs again, this time fusing it into his blade, adding it's attack power and making it glow. He jumped up and blocked me mid-air. A shockwave exploded from our blades, and pushed us both back. We stood for a moment, and at the same time, we flourished our swords, his glowing blue-white, and mine black. We jumped at each other, when we heard a voice.

"That's enough!"

Both our blades were stopped mid-swing. Standing in between us was Desmond, but he was unrecognizable. His hair had grown long and was floating upwards. In fact, HE was floating. He also shined blue, covering his features. He had caught my blade in one hand and Roy's in the other. He had managed to temporarily stop us, but I could see his hand starting to bleed from the sharpness of my katana.

"Desmond..."

I released the pressure on my sword, feeling the dark energy flow out of the sword and back into my body. He turned his attention to Roy, who was still gritting his teeth.

He grabbed his other sword with his free hand and swung it towards Desmond.

"YOU'RE IN MY WAAAAAAAY!"

As the blade approached Desmond, the same sphere aura from before surrounded him. When the blade hit it, a bright flash and an explosion erupted from the point of contact, blasting them both backwards.

Desmond recovered first, and reverted to his normal form. We walked over to where Roy was, to see him coughing.

"...*cough*...Sorry, guys."

The three of us stood quietly for a few long minutes.

* * *

**Author's Notes : **_Chapter 11 is here. Read and review. Now, I apologize for the time skip, but I couldn't stand to have Trane SOOO overpowered. So this way, he's only QUITE overpowered! :D I put a lot of effort into this fight scene, and I think some of you might find it quite familiar. I'm not telling though =x Review response time!_

_Ruminative-Be : Grinning is good for health, yes._

_Insanity's Light : In order, thank you :) Yes it was. Thank you. Yes, they are, and glad you do. I, sadly do not, because making fight scenes with daggers can only get so flashy. I hope so too. Thank you. Your fan is forgiven. I will! :D_


	12. Roy Tevinter's story

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

**Author's Side Note : **_Uh, this chapter was supposed to be named, Roy's Story. Some of you might have noticed the bad, unintentional pun. If you haven't, I've brought it up, so you'll see it everytime you read it. Has a nice ring to it, though. Roy Story, starring Hoody the cowboy and Fuzz the space ranger! Okay, on with the story!_

* * *

Over the silence, the sun begun to set, coating the scene with an orange glow.

Desmond was the first to break the silence, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a white colored pill. He popped it into his mouth, and the wound on his hand started knitting itself together slowly. He winced slightly, but looked used to the pain. When it fully healed, he examined his hand for any more injuries.

"I'm sorry, guys." Roy muttered again, getting up to his feet. Desmond spared him a small smile.

"It's cool, no harm done. Shame the same cant be said for the poor building."

Hearing that, I walked over to the edge of the building and looked down.

_Holy shit._

The crane was in ruins, and the ground 80 feet below was covered in rubble and dust was still rising. The building itself showed major damage, with sword cuts running through multiple floors and several craters around the floor and walls. Luckily, it was abandoned after all, so no one was in sight, and no one was close enough to get hurt.

"I told you not to get reckless, Roy." Desmond laughed, slapping him on the arm.

It looked like it was something worth laughing at, until we got a look at Roy's face, and a tear rolled down his eye. Desmond's face turned from laughter into shock, then concern.

"Did I hit you that hard? What's wrong, man?"

I walked up to him, concerned as well.

_Could something have caused him to act so violent before?_

His reply was a soft one.

"It was around this time...sunset..." He unlocked the smaller sword from the main one and sheathed them both. He hastily wiped his eyes, then looked at the sun.

Roy

**FLASHBACK, 3 YEARS AGO.**

_Someone knocked on my door loudly. It woke me up from my pre-dinner nap, so I disgruntledly opened the door. Mom was there, her face pale and stressed._

_"Mom? What's wrong?"_

_"Quickly, Roy!" She said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along the hallway. "We have to find your father and escape before it's too late!"_

_"Wait, what do you mean? Before what? Where's Dad? What's going on?"_

_She didn't answer me, and I got the nagging feeling something was wrong. We passed a window, and I stole a peek outside. I never expected what I saw. The orange light that usually bathed the village from the sunset was now instead replaced by flames, burning every building in sight. Before I could see more, Mom yanked on my arm, pulling me away. We approached the door, and it immediately burst open. A man came flying inside, knocked backwards by some force. He smashed into the wall, and didn't move. A deep gash ran from his shoulder to his stomach. He was dead._

_My mind seized up with terror, and I felt my stomach getting sick. I had never seen a dead person before, let alone an injury that serious. Mom brought me behind the wall and whispered to me._

_"Stay here, I'm going to find your father. Stay safe, no matter what happens." She kissed me on the forehead, before running out the door._

_I inched towards the door, and looked outside. Again I saw the village in flames, and were collapsing with every second. People were screaming and running for their lives, crying over their loved ones, whose corpses lay on the ground. In the centre of destruction, was one man. I couldn't see his face or what he wore, only his silhouette. The only thing I could make out about him was that he held two daggers, one in each hand. This man was flipping about the area, slaughtering everyone in his sight, many of them were people I knew and was close to. Many tried to stand against him, but he easily dodged their attacks and cut them down like flies. Another man yelled out to him, and he paused._

_"We gave you shelter! A sanctuary! Why are you doing this?" The voice sounded familiar..._

_Dad?_

_The man gave no reply, instead swinging one hand upwards and stabbing the sky. From the ground below Dad, several blades attached to chains flew up from beneath the surface. It caught him in the chest and impaled him, lifting him up a few feet into the air. Blood sprayed out of the wound, and he gasped in pain._

_"DAAAAAD!" I screamed, running out towards him. The man turned his attention to me. He lowered his arm, and the blades sunk back into the ground, dropping Dad to the floor with a thud. He drew a dagger back and threw it, a glowing purple chain connecting it to him. Before it hit, I felt myself get pushed out of the way and I hit the ground. Wincing, I looked up to see Mom standing, the dagger embedded in her stomach, with blood oozing out of the wound._

_She gave me a small smile and muttered, "Stay safe, no matter what happens." The man pulled on the chain, sending Mom flying towards him. He held out his other dagger and stabbed her in the chest before letting her fall to the ground._

_"Mom..?" I stammered, in shock. My parents, my friends, all dead. And I couldn't do anything to stop it._

_The man turned back to me, and slowly started walking towards me. I couldn't move, I was paralyzed with fear. He spoke, with a low, cruel voice._

_"I'll leave you alive, to bask in your weakness."_

_My fists were clenched and shaking, and tears were streaming down my eyes. This bastard...I'll kill him for this!_

_"__You want vengeance? Then get stronger, and come kill me. If you ever get stronger, that is."_

_With that, he turned and walked a few steps before disappearing in the smoke. I was left there, my village destroyed, and everyone dead. I dropped to my knees and cried._

_"WAAAAUUGH!"_

**FLASHBACK OVER!**

Trane

Hearing his story, I could only feel sorry for him. I knew what it was like, having to lose a family member, but he lost everything, everyone he knew, all in one day. His eyes were glistening with fresh tears, which he wiped away with his sleeve.

"And that's why, I swore to never be weak again. I'll keep getting stronger, and when I do, I'm gonna find him...and kill that bastard." He said, clenching his fists. "When I heard about Henesys getting attacked, I thought it was him, to be honest. I wanted to make sure something like that never happened again, but...I still wasn't strong enough to save it."

I walked up to him, and patted him on the shoulder. Desmond did the same, too.

"Henesys isn't destroyed, so don't worry."

"Yeah, and besides, this just means you're gonna have to get even stronger."

Roy choked on his laughter. "Thanks, guys." He said, pulling us into a bone crushing hug.

"Augh!" Desmond yelped. "See, you're plenty strong already."

He let go with an apologetic look, and we all laughed.

* * *

We met up with Risette and Chihiro, and decided to have dinner at the Kerning Restaurant. Roy was back to his happy-cocky mood, and he and Desmond challenged each other to ordering something called the Mystery Dish. They ended up ordering one each. We decided to have normal food instead, the girls ordering ramen and I ordered something special, the Kerning Beef Bowl. It was basically strips of fried beef with onions soaked in some special sauce, then served with a bowl of rice. Don't underestimate it though, it's probably the best thing I've eaten in my life.

The Mystery Dish turned out to be Octopus Leg noodles in a soup of Maya's Weird Medicine. Roy and Desmond looked at it in horror, earning laughs from the three of us. They were about to come to an agreement to not touch the dish, until the chef pointed out that it was said to increase potential for combat. The two looked at each other for a moment before wolfing down the purple noodles.

After the meal, we were all chatting for a while when Roy brought up a topic, directed at me.

"Trane. When we were..uh.."sparring", what was that shadow thing you used?"

"Oh yeah, I was gonna ask you that too." Desmond added, "I recall it making your sword even sharper than it already is, which is saying something."

I explained what happened while I was gone, and about the voice that taught me how to use the darkness. As an example, I held out my palm, conjuring a small black flame. Desmond and Roy were impressed, and Chihiro was squealing about me being a magician in disguise. But Risette, I noticed, looked a little worried.

* * *

A while later, we said goodnight to each other and split off. I walked for about a minute, when I heard someone calling me.

"Trane!" I turned around, seeing Risette hurrying after me.

I let her catch her breath, wondering why she just didn't teleport, but deciding not to ask. After a moment, she looked me in the eyes concernedly.

"Trane...that darkness you used just now...I can sense a strong evil from it. It's faint, but it's definitely there."

I looked at her puzzledly. "So what does that mean?"

"I think, if you keep using it...it might be able to start using you. It could harm you, Trane."

"If that's the case, then I'll try my best not to use it unless absolutely neccesary." I smiled. I rarely get the urge to smile, but she has a knack for changing that.

"Thank you," She smiled back. "Well, I guess I'll be going now." She turned and started walking away.

_Quick! Say something! Anything!_

"Arfritumuh?" I blurted out. She spun around, looking at me puzzledly.

_Smooth._

"I...uh...Are you...free tomorrow?" I stumbled my way slowly through the sentence.

She walked up to me again, a small smile playing on her face. "And why would you ask me that?"

_Damn, she's teasing me!_

"Cause I like-" I stopped myself, quickly recovering. "I uh..I'd like to get to know you better."

"Hmm...Sure. Tomorrow then."

_My mind was literally going, :-D!_

_"I'll...see you then, Risette."_

She giggled. "Call me Rise." She waved with a smile and walked off.

Luckily it was dark, or else anyone could've seen my blush from a mile away.

* * *

**Author's Notes : **_Chapter 12! I've seemed to have returned to my roll of one chapter a day, but that's mainly because I've been TRAPPED in a foreign country with NOTHING TO DO except eat and go outside where the temperature is -20 DEGREES CELCIUS! Okay, uh. Here we get to see a bit of Roy's past. Also, I MAY and most probably WILL need help on the next chapter, which is, as you can see, a DATE SCENE. Shit, I don't do romance very well D: So, review replies!_

_The 21 blue dudes : Welcome back to the Itami Express! :D It's not a large range of weapons =( It's a, slightly longer Bushido, that...cuts through lots of stuff! Long range attack is shown in chapter 11. I agree with you. To be honest, I was going to do the backstories anyway, but I agree that those little paragraphs ruin character development. Well, they're gone now! :D Hope this chapter shows what you wanted. Oh, there'll be screw ups and flaws, don't you worry. Like Roy, who clearly has a flaw already, shown in this and the previous chapter._

Itami : Next time, we're gonna see the DATE SCENE! *cheers*

Trane : *mumble*...

Itami : Sorry, what was that?

Trane : ...I don't know how to do this...

Itami : Ah. Well, if it makes you feel better, I don't know how I'm gonna write it! :D

Trane : And you decided to make it the next chapter? *glare*

Itami : Heh..uh...right...Calling for help, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO ROMANCEY FLUFF CHAPTERS!


	13. Under the stars

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

I must've been standing there for about five minutes before I realized it.

_I'm going on a date with Rise._

My brain went spastic with joy, but a small part of it was being problematic. I tried to shut it out, but it kept nagging.

_"What are you even going to do?", _it said. Thinking quickly, I gave a quick call to Uncle Griggs.

"Hey, kid. Good to hear from you."

"I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, Uncle."

"Hey, it's not a problem for my nephew. I was, uh...working, anyway."

As he said that, I heard machinery moving and steam hissing in the background. I would've asked, but my issue seemed much more important to me at the moment.

"Can you help me call your friend Spiegelmann? I need him to pull a few strings for tomorrow."

We took about 3 minutes discussing everything, and he wished me luck on my "first date". After putting the phone down, I decided to give a call to another friend of mine.

"Arrrrgh, man. It's almost 2 a.m in the morning!" Roy answered, groggily and whiningly.

"Sorry Roy, but this is important. I'm going on a date with Rise tomorrow."

At that, he immediately became more alert.

"OOH! Tevinter romance facility, at your service!"

"...Yeah, okay. Now here's what I need you to do..."

* * *

I swallowed hard as I made my way to the main part of town in New Leaf City. Granted, anxiety has never proved to be much of a problem for me before.

A fight with Dark Lord's crazy clone?_ Oh sure, not a problem._

Balrogs?_ Bring it on._

A date with the most amazing girl I've ever met? _..._

Checking the clock on Bigger Ben, I've figured there might be a little less than five minutes before the designated meet-up time.

I prepared to lean back on the wall and watch the colourful bustling going on around the town. A fair JUST HAPPENED to have moved in today. The ringmaster was a Mr. Spiegelmann, a short, fat man in a tuxedo, complete with a gigantic bowler hat, a large handlebar moustache and an ear-to-ear grin. I walked past him about a minute ago, and he gave me a not-so-suspicious wink and a nudge.

A carrousel glittered against the dusky skies of evening at the far end of the town square. Bright stands and tents were adorned with the scent of hot, fresh food and the rich hues of trinkets, candy and run-of-the-mill fair games like shoot-a-duck; with the ducks speeding by at 100 kilometres an hour and balloon pop; where balloons teleport randomly on a large board.

I was watching a hermit take a crack at the balloon pop stand, calculating the angles before flinging his shuriken and hitting every balloon on the board.

"A rossssse, siir?" A high-pitched voice asked.

"Pppft, hey!"My face was cushioned with a hundred roses.

I pushed them away and frowned at the rose man.

"Hmm, aren't you sad being all alone? Or are you waiting for someone... _special_?" He gave a wide grin displaying a full rack of shiny, immaculate whites. I looked at his teeth in awe for a moment.

"Trane?" A voice which made my toes curl came into in the picture. I took a steadying breath before swivelling to my right. Didn't work; nothing could've prepared me for what came next.

_She looks absolutely..._

I caught my breath and gave her a small, lopsided smile. "You look awesome."

"Oh..." Rise fingered the frothy sleeve of her striking red dress with gold-black trim and blushed. "Thanks... you look pretty good yourself."

It was my turn to blush. I was wearing the same thing I always do...even though I _did _have my shoes polished.

"Ahem." The rose man clutched his basket and raised his eyebrows knowingly.

"A rose for YOUR rose, then?" He asked me conspicuously, tucking the stem of a fully petalled red rose in the belt holding my katana sheath and then saying in a muted tone, "It's on the house, buddy."before standing up straight and grinning again.

"So nice to have met such a lovely couple."

"Oh no, we're not—" Rise and I started simultaneously. But the man was gone.

I stared at my gloved fingers before looking at Rise who was fiddling slightly with her fan.

"So, shall we get a move on?" She chirped up happily.

"Er, yeah. Oh, before we do..." I tried not to let my face look stupid as I held out the rose to her.

"Oh! It's lovely..." Rise took the flower and spun it between her fingers. The rose emitted a blue light and was encased in eternal ice.

"There. Thanks, Trane. Hey, let's stroll around the fair. I absolutely _love _them." She gushed, taking my hand and pulling me in the direction of the tents.

* * *

So far, we've shared some cotton candy and all those types of sweets kids and girls seem to like a lot.

Rise tried her luck at shoot-a-duck. I wanted to laugh...she was a terrible shot and gave the green eye to those archers beside her who were flawlessly pinning down duckies in a row.

"Glad Chihiro isn't with us. She'd have a field day showing off." She muttered, taking aim again with the toy bow provided.

I came up to her. "Why don't we do this one together?" I mirrored her position. "Bring your wrist up a little more...and...strike."

She missed. Puffing up her cheeks in frustration, she held out her fan. It began glowing in a white light and formed the shape of a bow. Pulling on the string, she released an arrow, also of pure light. It successfully knocked down a duck.

"Okay, Miss. You've hit... one duck... after thirty tries! Congratulations! Here's your prize. Enjoy!" The barker handed her a small perfect model of a Ribbon Pig. She looked at it with pride in her eyes and she turned and presented it to me when we were walking away from the booth.

"Here... usually it's the guy who gives the girl the prizes. But I won this for you and... it's small enough to slip into your pocket so you won't look so childi—" She paused as she saw the balloon-popping thief amble by with a bunch of soft toys in his arms.

I laughed whole-heartedly and took her prize.

"It's nice to hear you laugh." She said lightly before turning around and started walking again.

"Rise? Wait up, so how about some dinner? I heard there was this place where we can... hold on..." I said, fishing out a crumpled flyer from my coat pocket. There was a sobbing man at the Fusion Bar last night. He was blubbering about his girlfriend standing him up on their date or something. He left the flyer on the bar counter before passing out. I squinted at the fancy penmanship... "_**Fascination of Forever - Where you and the love of your life dine under the stars.**_" and underneath it was a hearted "Kuzon Haranami + Kristina Halos FOREVER' written in pencil.

"Uh, yeah..." I said, crumpling it up again, "It's this restaurant where we can...you know...have something while...watching stars."

Her eyes widened. "That sounds great, Trane. I'd love to have dinner under the stars."

_"With you." _She added so softly.

I don't think I was meant to hear that, but I did. And my nerves wouldn't stop floating.

* * *

"... Koroshio..." Mumbled the man at the restaurant's reception table, running his finger down a list of names, "Ah yes, here we are. You were the nervous sounding young man last nig—"

I was _sure _I heard Rise stifle a giggle. I cut him off quickly, "Uh, yes, you've a table reserved?"

"Indeed I do, Sir... you know, you got very lucky. There was a cancellation here just last night right before you called in for a reservation. That young man on the phone seemed quite heartbroken, mind you; poor fellow." He added as he ducked under the desk and produced a midnight blue keycard.

"Here we are," he said, giving me the keycard. "Just slot it in and let it happen. Franz will guide you to the room. Have a pleasant meal." He gave a courteous nod and a dapper man in a tailcoat motioned for us to follow him.

"Will this do, Sir?" He asked as he showed us to an empty circular room with plush walling and carpeting, dimmed lighting and a plain dome ceiling...uh...

"...Yes, it's uh, perfect." I told him.

"Very good, Sir." He gestured to a discreet slot for the keycard, "Just use the switch when you're ready." He said quietly and exited the room.

Rise looked puzzled, with an interested gleam in her eye.

I slotted the card in.

And the entire room started to float up. It was gentler than an elevator. It felt very much like flying vertically with feet on the ground.

Rise was laughing, "Wow!"

In less than a minute, we stopped.

A fancy table set for two apparated in the center of the room. Complete with candles and stuff.

And the ceiling had faded, revealing hundreds and thousands of glittering stars on an inky blue sky.

"Oh my..." Rise breathed.

I guess I was awestruck as well. This is really something.

"Dinner under the stars. Just like you said." Rise smiled and looked at the ceiling once more before dragging me over to the table. "Come on! Let's have something to eat!"

We seated ourselves at the table and picked up our menus. A lot of stuff too fancy for my liking.

"Hmmm..." Rise eyed the selection, "A penne pasta special sounds good. Yes, I think I'll have that. How do we-" She stopped as her dinner plate sank into the tablecloth and reappeared again in less than in an instant with her order, warm and artfully arranged on her plate.

"Mm, good service here." I voiced out and glanced at my menu again and started talking to my plate... "Er... a uh, "New Leaf" Beef Bowl, please...extra beef," I added.

My plate went and a large steaming bowl of beefy heaven greeted me.

"You _really _like that dish, don't you?" Rise asked, looking at my bowl with amusement.

"The best dish ever", I agreed.

"Well," she lifted her fork, "Let's eat up then."

And we both dug in. For a moment, there wasn't any talking. I watched as she speared her pasta with gusto. Then she offered me a bite.

"Here, it's not as good as Kerning's, but have a spoonful of mine too." I passed her a spoon of my meal.

"Ok. I've never had this before but..." She said and her eyes closed as she savoured the taste.

"Mmmm. Now _this _is good. It's no surprise you would love it."

Her pasta tasted good too. But it couldn't fully tear me away from the beef bowl.

And after all the way down to dessert, Rise studied the menu again.

"Hey, why don't we share a chocolate fondant blackberry dessert?" She turned her menu around and there was holographic image of a fluffy looking dessert.

I almost choked on my distilled water.

_Share__? As in... two spoons and one bowl? With Rise?_

"Sure." I think my voice sounded as stunned as I felt.

"Ok then. Let's have it, please!" She called to the table.

"Oooh, that looks yummy... Here," she handed me a long, filigreed spoon and clinked hers with mine, "To dessert!"

I was still a little apprehensive.

Risette looked up from the dessert, her mouth full of chocolate, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, hmm? Nothing... just... eat the berries for me okay?"

"I wouldn't mind. I was actually going to ask you if I could have _your_ share of berries."

I smiled at that.

We were lingering over dessert... which _was _really good. Seems that Risette has great taste in sweet meal endings.

* * *

After the bill was payed _(200 000 Mesos!)_, I convinced her to take a walk in the park.

_Cliché, I know. But as long as the plan works, it should turn out okay._

After a few minutes of walking, her eyes lit up.

"Let's go on the lake!" She suggested excitedly.

"That sounds good, except the lake is, well, water."

She giggled. "You forget", she said, winking. She crouched down by the bank of the lake and touched the surface of it with her fan. At once, the water began freezing from that point and spread out to the whole lake, providing a solid sheet of ice.

She stepped on, and turned around to face me.

"C'mon." She said, and we walked to the centre of the now frozen lake, where I figured now would be best a time as any. When she wasn't looking, I raised my hand up and signalled.

A moment later, the start of a slow song began playing. I singled out the source of the music and looked to my left, seeing Roy and Chihiro behind a tree with a radio. The both of them were grinning like buffoons at me, and giving a series of winks and thumbs up. Rise was also looking around, but I interrupted her before she found them.

_Okay, let's do this!, _I prepped myself. My heart was racing, but it wasn't the time to back down.

"May I have this dance?" I asked, smiling and holding out my hand. She hesitated for a moment, then took it. Her hand was warm to the touch, and we both immediately blushed.

_Baby there's something on my mind tonight_

_There's a reason to believe we almost got it right_

She slowly raised her other hand up and put it on my shoulder. I did the same, except resting my hand on her waist.

_There's a fire burning in the firelight  
_  
_As we roll on tonight_

We started moving, swaying slowly to the music.

_There's paper promises and alibis  
_  
_There is certainly uncertainty in all our eyes_

_But as long as you are here I'll be all right_

_As we roll on tonight_

I stretched my arm out, motioning her into a twirl. As she spun back around to face me, her shyness had faded, replaced instead by a smile, which I returned.

_So you go out...I'll go on  
_  
_If there's a doubt well we'll be strong_

I pulled her closer to me, caring not for the atmosphere, or that Roy and Chihiro were watching. I wanted to savour the moment, every moment, with her.

_As we go on singing _

"You dance well." She giggled softly.

_One more for love my love_

I looked into her eyes and smiled.

"I learnt how to do it yesterday, just for this moment."

At that, she unexpectedly pulled me closer, into an embrace. My eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then softened again as I held her close.

_One more for love..._

*Click*

_YEEEAAAAUUURGGGGH!_

The sudden change of music startled both of us, and Rise lost her grip on the ice and slipped. I quickly moved and caught her before she hit the ground. Looking up momentarily, I saw Chihiro pleading silently to me for forgiveness, and Roy had his face in his palms. I forced myself to release her from my glare, looking back down at Rise.

"Are you alright?"

In the night sky, her long crimson locks looked astounding. She wore her hair loose. Wavy scarlet tresses framed her face and shoulders. The stars made her form look like she was glowing and her soft brown eyes sparkled with the starlight as she looked straight at me.

"Yeah...I..I'm fine..."

We stared into each other's eyes, our cheeks noticably turning a deeper shade of red with each second. Her face was close, so very close to me. So close, I could count her eyelashes, hear how many breaths she was taking.

I don't think my mouth has felt any drier.

I slowly started leaning in.

Before I could complete the motion, I lifted her up in my arms and jumped backwards. The next moment, the portion of ice we were on was struck by a humongous fireball. It melted a circle right through it, but that wasn't the end. The now exposed water began to boil, melting the icy lake at a rapid rate.

"We have to get out!" Rise yelled and took my hand. She splayed her fan outward, keeping a thin path frozen.

The second we got out of the lake, it was struck by another fireball, causing an outburst of steam. When it had cleared, a voice spoke.

"Well, well. Isn't this sweet?"

It was a girl's voice. Looking up, we saw a hooded figure, levitating a few metres in the sky.

"Who are you?", I asked coldly.

She removed her hood, revealing her face. She was young, probably my age or a little bit older. Her hair reached down to her mid-back and was black with one yellow streak down the left side. Her eyes were a deep purple and her head was tiled as she smiled innocently.

"My name", she said dramatically, "is Zenith! That's Z-E-N-I-T-H."

"And what do you want?"

She eyed me. "Ahh, so you are the Koroshio kid he keeps mentioning, huh?" She chuckled when she saw my look of surprise. "Oh yes, I know all about you. He keeps mentioning you, y'know."

I put my hand on my katana.

"Start speaking sense." I ordered.

"Ahahahah, like father like son I see." She narrowed her eyes and smirked.

"My father? Where is he?" I yelled, drawing my sword.

"Tut tut tut, I'm not here to fight. I'm just here to visit someone." She turned her attention to Rise. "Someone very important to me."

Rise looked at her angrily.

"I don't know who you are, now leave or you're going to get hurt!", she yelled. I moved in front of her and pointed my sword at Zenith.

"Leave."

She laughed again. "That's just adorable. Very well, I'll leave. Oh, and, little Trane, you'll be meeting you're father soon. Sooner than you think, I think. Ta-ta now!" She waved, and disappeared in a column of flame.

We were left in silence. I turned around to face Rise.

"Do you know her?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Hey! HEEEEY!"

We turned to see Roy and Chihiro running towards us with worried looks.

"Are you both alright?" Chihiro asked, and we both nodded.

"That girl...", she said slowly. "That's the one Athena spoke of. She's one of the people that attacked Henesys."

Just then, my phone rang. Seeing that it was an unknown number, I answered it.

"Koroshio, this is Captain Kyrin of the Nautilus, Pirate job instructor. Bring whoever is with you to the Nautilus Docks. De'Lite has already been informed."

Before I could ask any questions, the phone was put down. Seeing that it must be important, we set off to the docks.

When we got there, the waters started unsettling. Out from the depths, a giant submarine in the shape of a whale emerged, and the door opened. Desmond was standing at the entrance, beckoning us to come in. He led us to the Captain's Cabin, where we found all five job instructor's sitting in front of a massive screen, showing the map of the Maple World.

"What's this about?" I asked.

Athena, who had fully recovered from her injuries, stood up before replying.

"The Black Magician has made his next move."

* * *

**Author's Notes : **_Aaaand, this chapter is done! I must thank Insanity's Light for helping me with the first half of the date scene, without her help, this chapter would have been a dud. For the dance bit, I think the song just goes so well with it. It's called "One More for Love" by Five for Fighting. I recommend you listen to it while reading that scene. The timing is, THE LYRICS HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME AS THE LINE ABOVE IT. Okay uh. This is, MY FIRST TIME writing something like this. EVER! I hope it turns out well, really I do =\ Please read and review. Okay, review responses!_

_The 21 blue dudes : There'll be more explanation to his past, don't worry. I'm still interested in your help for that thing you PMed me about. Thank you for the review! I'm still waiting for your new chapter, actually. 7.7? Jolly good, Old Bean :D_

_Insanity's Light : There you go, that's my take on a good date :D Thank you again for your help! Here, you get a kudos cookie (::) High on calories, low on taste!_

Itami : And that's it for the date! But who is this mysterious girl called Zenith? Where is Trane's father? What is this "next move"? Find out next time on Season 1 of "Stand Against The Evil"! (Yes, there'll be more.)

Roy : You forgot to ask, "Will there be more romance for the two lovebirds?"

Chihiro : Yeah, they didn't even get to kiss!

Roy : That was all YOUR fault, y'know.

Itami : *glare*


	14. Attack on Omega Sector

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

Lol it's been a year. Sorry about that. Anyway, here's chapter 14.

Trane : So he finally made his move, huh...

Itami : I'll buy you a beef bowl if you follow the script.

Trane : ...Let's go.

* * *

_So he finally made his move, huh..._

"We just received a transmission from Omega Sector." Athena explained.

"Put it on screen." Kyrin snapped her fingers, the large screen in the front lighting up.

Immediately the screen changed to show a scene of total chaos. Soldiers were standing about firing their weapons, the flashes of passing bullets and ricochets indicating that they were being hit by something in return. The camera played to the left showing grenades adorned with skulls impacting the ground all around sending up plumes of soil and burnt grass. A man in a black suit and sunglasses raced at the cameraman yelling to get down before firing at something off the screen.

It turned back to face their attackers. Amidst the dust and debris flying about, a hail of bullets returned fire. A hooded man walked out of the smoke casually, somehow dodging majority of the bullets and blocking the others by firing his own. After a while of walking, it became clear that no one else was coming out behind him, and that all the gunfire was in fact, coming from him.

_It's just one guy?_

The camera spun around to look at a terrified looking agent. "We are under attack, taking heavy casualties, repeat: heavy casualties," the officer said yelling to be heard over the roaring of assault rifle fire and the sharp snap-hissing of bullets. "We can…" an explosion drowned out whatever the officer was saying. " ..eed backup. They came out of nowhere! We can't-" A bullet flew into his chest and the man slumped down dead.

"Hey! HEY! Look at me!" a voice shouted, and the camera panned to the source, the lone attacker.

"You followin' me camera guy? Heheh, cool, I'm on TV!" He said gleefully. "Anyway! You're gonna be watchin' this ain't ya Cap'n Kyrin? You know what this means then!"

"Whoops!" He tilted his body, dodging a sniper shot. Without looking away from the camera, he lazily lifted his arm and fired his pistol. A yelp was heard, followed by the sound of a body falling.

"By the way," He continued speaking, "I hope you don't mind, but I brought a friend with me to play." Taking out a different gun from his robe, he fired it straight into the sky. It exploded and released a big cloud of dust, blocking out the sun.

The camera shook again as all around the marines continued engaging whoever was attacking them. Then there came a noise, a deep yet sharp noise not unlike something I had heard before. It may seem impossible, but I've heard that sound in my head countless times already.

_The sound of the darkness..._

The men on screen slowly ceased firing and all seemed to look up, the camera following their gaze.

Another hooded figure dropped from the cloud, a dagger gleaming menacingly in each of his hands. His body seemed to flicker in and out of sight while he fell, disappearing in a blur before reappearing again. By the time he hit the ground, everyone around him had fallen wordlessly, blood spurting from the fatal wounds he inflicted before they could react.

Standing up to his full height, he turned his head to the camera, as if noticing it for the first time. Flicking out his hand, he threw his dagger at the camera. Upon contact, it abruptly cut the transmission, showing only static.

* * *

As the video ended, the 5 instructors began talking.

"We must send backup immediately."

"You saw skilled they were."

"It could be a trap."

"...Hm."

"A small team could distract them while organizing an evacuation."

"So send us already!" Roy yelled, pounding his fist on the desk.

"Watch your temper, Tevinter." Kyrin snapped. "The portal to Omega Sector is being prepared as we speak. In any case, you need your briefing."

"You're priority is to ensure the safety of the people, and of the town. Avoid contact with the enemy unless necessary...they are stronger than we initially assumed." Athena said.

"Starting a battle there will only mean more losses." Dances With Balrog agreed.

A low humming sound began, and a portion of the wall slid open, revealing a swirling portal.

"It is ready." Grendel said.

Roy cracked his neck, entering the portal first, followed by Chihiro, then Rise. Desmond gave a glance to Kyrin before going. She gave him a nod, which he returned, then followed them into the portal. I began walking as well when Dark Lord stopped me.

"You are not going."

"What? Why not?"

"It is time you explained the power that has recently come into your possession."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't be so dull, boy." He narrowed his eyes at me. "The power you unleashed during your little scuffle atop the construction site of Kerning. Nothing escapes me in my city."

My eyes widened at that. So he knew about the darkness...? I took a deep breath and explained to them about the voice that spoke to me, and about how I gained control over the darkness. I raised my hand to show them, and let it be enveloped in the black flame.

Without warning, I pointed my arm at Grendel, preparing to strike him down with the flames.

Immediately, he pointed his staff at me, knocking me back into the wall. I gasped in pain and surprise, the flames stinging my arm before extinguishing.

"GAH! What-" I began, but he cut me off.

"It was you who attacked. I merely neutralized the damage and deflected it."

Damn. Did I really just do that? Why did I attack him? What the hell was going on? My string of questions were cut off as Grendel pointed his staff again, his orb glowing. I felt a searing pain on my left hand, the kind of pain you get from submerging your hand in icy water. Looking down at the back of my hand, I saw a dark black tattoo on it. It was a crescent moon, and around it was what appeared to be a serpent coiled in a circle, biting on its tail.

"This seal will prevent that power from releasing for the time being." Grendel said. "Now, we have a mission for you."

"Right," I said, getting up while rubbing my hand which still stung. "I'll enter the portal right away."

"No. You will go to Sleepywood, and speak with The Rememberer. He will complete the seal on your arm, and you may proceed as you choose after."

"What? But my friends are fighting as we speak!"

"Better start moving." Dark Lord said bluntly.

_Damn. Not gonna get out of this one._

* * *

**Roy**

Stepping out of the portal, I found myself in what looked like the inside of a missile silo. Only instead of missiles, there were GIANT ROBOTS OH MY GOD THAT'S SO COOL I WANT ONE. In my moment of awe, I forgot that others were coming behind me. Right on cue, I heard a squeal and Chihiro barrelled me over. Risette managed to stop, however, which was lucky. Trane would have killed me if he came through and saw that. Well, he would have tried.

"Thank God, you've finally arrived."

After successfully untangling myself from Chihiro, I got up to see a middle-aged man wearing a pair of glasses and a lab coat.

"What's the situation, Dr. Kim?" Desmond had arrived and was shaking the man's hand.

"See for yourself." He sighed.

The base was full of people running about, either helping with the defences or tending to the wounded. To the wall nearest to us, soldiers were shooting outside the windows, desperately trying to defend against the onslaught of the two guys outside. Peering out of one of the windows, I saw one of the guys from the video, with the guns. He had taken cover behind a piece of debris, not out of being suppressed, but out of boredom from the lack of people to shoot. Occasionally he would point one of his pistols out from cover and take a shot randomly, almost always landing a clean shot on some poor sap.

The moment he looked in my direction, I spun around 180 degrees by instinct and lifted my largest sword up by a fraction. Less than a moment later, I heard a CLANG as a bullet hit my sword right where my skull would have been.

"Everyone, hold your fire!" Desmond's voice yelled through the base's loudspeaker, and the soldiers ceased their shooting.

Outside, the hooded gunslinger peeked his head out from behind his cover. Seeing that the bullets had stopped, He stood up and pulled out a megaphone. Upon switching it on,high pitched feedback blasted out from it.

"Sorry!" He apologized after he shook it a bit, rubbing his ears. "So uh, is this thing on? Yeah anyway, WE WANT YOU...five to come out here and talk. Y'know, a little pirate parley? Huh? Parrrrley? I'll bring my friend too."

We gathered for a quick discussion. If we went, we could find out what they want and probably stop the attack, or at least keep them talking long enough for the people to evacuate. Trane and the rest can take the gunslinger, the other one looks like he could give a good fight. Speaking of which...

"Wait a minute, where's Trane?"

"He's on a solo mission, given by the instructors." Desmond said.

_Damn, he always gets all the awesome stuff._

* * *

**Meanwhile, somewhere deep in Sleepywood forest...**

A male teenager trudges through the trees, pure dissatisfaction on his face, his eyes almost a glowing green, glowing with fury. Coming to a certain tree, he decides to mark it to prevent himself from going in circles. However, upon closer inspection, he sees that he had already marked that very same tree minutes ago. Trane Koroshio gives a big sigh as he realizes..

"I'm fucking lost, aren't I?"

* * *

**Trane**

"Lost?" A familiar voice chuckled. "Rather, I think you're exactly where you should be."

Whipping around, I saw Zenith, the girl from yesterday who ruined my evening with Rise, sitting on a tree branch.

The one who ruined my date.

The one who ruined my first kiss.

GrrRAGE!

I launched myself at her with a flying kick aimed for her face. She splayed her hand outward as I approached.

"Time!"

Inches from her face, I noticed that she was no longer in front of me, and I was instead inches from a tree. I kicked off it and did a backflip, seeing her sitting on a tree branch above me.

I summoned shadows from my hand and blasted the cock-blocker with the full fury of the darkness, eradicating her from existence.

At least, that's what I intended, but all I got was a stabbing pain on the back of my hand.

"GWARGH!" I screamed in pain, clutching the tattoo that was now glowing blue.

_Damn, forgot about that thing._

"Well, well. Now whatever could that be? A seal, perhaps? Interesting choice of symbols there." I heard Zenith say, teleporting in front of me and getting a look at the mark on my hand.

"What are you on about?" I said through my teeth.

"Look." She said, pointing at the tattoo which had returned to it's original color. "That crescent moon symbolizes night, a.k.a shadows or darkness. The thingy around it is the mark of Ouroboros, which seals the outer world from the inner world."

"So!" She said, getting up. "To join these two together would mean that that thing is a seal, with the purpose of preventing the power of darkness you now possess from being utilized. Is that correct?"

I didn't answer her, but she knew she was right.

"So what do you want?" I asked.

* * *

**Roy**

20 minutes later, the four of us were headed outside, prepared for the worst, expecting anything. The gunslinger and his partner stood waiting for us, far away enough so we would be out of range from the defenses of the area. As the gunslinger saw us, he waved cheerfully.

"Yo Deedee." He greeted.

"Verelend", Desmond responded.

What.

"The hell? You know this nutjob?" I exclaimed, pointing at him.

"Ouch, talk about hostility, dude!" He whined, dying from an imaginary bullet. "Still, we should just get all of it out of the way to avoid some awkward déjà vu in the future."

"You are looking at Veland Winchester." He announced, puffing his chest out in pride. "Gunslinger extraordinaire, and I make a mean meal of eggs in a basket."

"You," he pointed to Desmond, "Are Deedee Desmond De'lite, lazy knucklebuster with authority. The firehead there is Risette Diamono, and despite her blazing appearance, she's your own personal refrigerator."

"Then we have the cute copper head in the back, Chihiro Kushina. She enjoys turning her enemies into pincushions for her arrows, and…" He put his fingers to his head and concentrated hard. "And she currently wears white panties."

"Wha-HEY!" She screamed, her face turning a deep scarlet as she moved her hands to cover her skirt from his eyes.

"Whoa, really?" He laughed. "I just made a wild guess there. Don't worry about it, sweet cheeks, I didn't see a thing."

"I think you forgot someone." I pointed out.

He shook his head. "Not really. I just think it's better if my pal here continues." He gestured to his partner.

The other man stepped forward and spoke.

"Roy Tevinter. Son of Carol and Serph Tevinter."

As he spoke, my nerves reacted in recognition.

_This voice..!_

"3 years ago, I was sent to destroy a village. Before completely razing it to the ground, I left a single survivor, giving him the opportunity to live on the condition that he gained enough strength to defeat me, the man who murdered everyone he knew in cold blood. Does that sound familiar?"

"My memories a little foggy," I said, my voice shaking. "But I could never forget your bastard voice, so you can drop the act."

"So, you remember." He said, chuckling sinisterly. "I wonder if you are prepared to make your end of  
our little agreement."

I drew both of my shortswords and flourished them. "How about you come find out?"

"Roy, don't let him provoke you!" Risette warned.

"I know. I'm not gonna risk fighting him alone. Gimme a hand, alright?"

"We didn't come here to fight." Desmond ordered.

"Excuse me!", Veland said, his hand raised like he was in a classroom. "I just wanna point out that we did in fact, come here just to talk."

"HOWEVER!" He continued, holding up a finger. "I notice one of you guys ain't here. The rule was for FIVE of you, see, so yeah. We needed Trane here especially. And no, I'm not telling you why."

"You are irrelevant to our master's plan." His partner said. "Too weak to deserve a purpose in our goals."

"ENOUGH!" I roared, charging at him. "THIS ENDS NOW, BITCH!"

* * *

**Desmond**

The man dodged Roy's attack, backflipping out of reach and away from us. Roy gave chase immediately. Risette started moving to support him when Veland dashed in front of her, blocking her path.

"Nuh-uh, mesa gots somethin' to tell you!"

Chihiro fired an arrow, which he barely dodged, breaking his concentration momentarily.

"YEOW!"

"Risette, go!" I yelled.

"Right!" She responded, teleporting away. In the distance, I saw her join the fight, forcing their opponent on the defensive.

"Okay, Veland, make it quick." I said, turning back to him.

He nodded and pulled off his hood, showing his face. His hair was jet black and spiked up in a faux-hawk, his eyes a wild electric blue. Behind me, I heard Chihiro give a muffled gasp.

"Something you recognize, Chihiro?" I asked. She shook her head and looked down.

"Something you likey, Chi-chan?" Veland asked, grinning. Her eyes widened as she coughed, her cheeks turning pink.

"Wha-? I-! You don't-! How dare you?" She choked, notching an arrow and taking aim again.

"Don't." I held my arm out to block her. "He's on our side."

"What…?"

* * *

**Roy**

I slid back from a kick to the gut when I heard Risette teleporting beside me. She quickly healed my wounds-light bruises, while the man stood from a distance and just watched.

His eyes were cold…

Now, I know I'm a usually cool dude− not afraid of much… nada… nix… but this… this guy?

Yeeeah… I'm betting he's in a whole other league … I mean… right now, it's a fragment of what I felt when I lost my family and village ears ago…

A fragment of the worst fear I've ever felt in my life.

_It's no use, you both can't take this guy down,_ my mind is yelling at me.

I gritted my teeth.

I saw Risette swallow as she squeezed her fan tightly. I don't know what she might be thinking, but I'm pretty sure she's having doubts about taking this guy on too…

I mean, don't get me wrong, she's good, real good… and I know I'm good… we're both good… but… Oh man… somehow I keep thinking that Trane oughta be here…

Now that's a guy you can feel safe with anywhere; no matter who you're up against…

Dammit, I sound like a girl… anyway… it's just the three of us now. I glanced at him then at Rise.

The blade guy still seemed impassive and Rise was as pale as paper. I saw her rubbing something that looked like a frozen flower which peeked out from her pocket. A good luck charm, Rise?

We're gonna need all the luck we can get. I heaved my sword up and pointed it in his direction.

"Don't think you can beat us that easy." I growled.

The guy said nothing but smoothly drew his blades. From the corner of my eye, I saw Rise take a position which I've seen her do a couple of times in battle. An ice needle spell, I think. I looked at her and she nodded slightly… Okay, it's decided… I'll just distract him and lure him in closer to Risette's attack range…

… But why do I feel like this is the one shot that we have? One that's not gonna work?

Please don't mess up, I prayed to myself.

A quick blur and our blades clashed− his daggers against my sword.

I glared at him with all my might but he didn't seem agitated… in fact, he looked like he wasn't even paying attention. He had this creepy, I'm-not-even-trying look and HOLY HENESYS, this guy is good.

He flipped back using the lagged momentum of my sword swing.

Lunging forward, I thrust my blade at him and pulled up. No retaliation from him... he just flipped his body back like a wallet and avoided it.

Then in a flash, he was beside me.

"Weak", I heard him say.

Something snapped when I heard that. Fuck the fact that he's stronger than me, I am taking this son of a bitch down.

I forgot about using my sword… my elbow jutted out and I hoped that I got him good in the gut. But it just hit empty air… I breathed out in annoyance. Not good.

A steely ring of metal was close and I dodged on instinct− rolling away and getting back up to my feet on the double.

I held the handle of my sword even tighter, ducking another swish of enemy blade. He appeared right in front of me in a flash.

At the same moment, Risette waved her fan and thousands of ice needles lurched at the he. The sound they made was pretty creepy… like a funeral-esque battle march of sleigh bells.

I thought the needles were about to make him the next big Swiss; I really did.

Barely looking at them, he thrust his arm outward.

From the edge of his dagger handle, a compact, purple chain rang out. The connected chain and dagger whipped out in a seriously perfect wave and smashed out Rise's ice needles. He swung it around him again like a mace and this time it flew towards my face at a blinding speed.

"What the−?" I yelled out. My guard was let down and I nearly failed to dodge the jagged blade of his dagger. I felt like a section of my cheek split open.

*tsk* Ouch.

Rise continuously conjured up icicled projectiles to destroy him but he kept on dancing away from them.

I'm not the type of guy who who would use the word "graceful" on other dudes… but this guy…?

I hope Chihiro and Des are okay.

* * *

**Desmond**

"A double agent…?" Chihiro was still trying to take it in.

"And I'm deep in the enemy's tender nether regions, too." He added, causing a raised eyebrow from me and another arrow from Chihiro, which he dodged. "Metaphorically! I can't expose myself at any cost, which is why I had to kill a lot of the suits today."

"Was it you who attacked Henesys too, then?" I asked just to be sure.

"Fo' sho'! I missed Athena on purpose, no way would I shoot her." He said seriously. "But that mission was just a trial run of the enemies' power. The full product has yet to be released, but I'm being kept in the dark about most of it."

"Okay," I said. "So tell us what you do know."

"Yessiree, Double Dee. Now, my orders today were simple enough; blow this place sky high. The reason was because this joint has high military power or somethin' which may be a threat in the future."

"Now, I coulda' done this by settin' some charges and detonating it before they knew I was there. However, I was specifically given three orders. 1-Engage in a full frontal assault. 2-Draw out the Class Reps. 3-Take this guy with you." He pointed behind his shoulder somewhere.

"This got me thinkin', and I came to these conclusions. Order 1 was to fulfill Order 2, which was to draw you out. Order 2 was so we would brawl. And Order 3, is so we would win said brawl."

"Your boss not confident in your skills, Verelend?" I smirked. He replied by giving me the finger.

"Pssfffhhh, as if! I could take you all on with nothin' but a pea shooter. Anyway, the guy with me, let's call him Stabby, was given another order. Our boss wants one Trane Koroshio to go, no fries."

"Trane?" Chihiro and I exclaimed. "Why would he want him?"

"I don't know zip about that, but I told Cap'n Kyrin, and I'm guessing that's why he ain't here."

"This…Stabby person…" Chihiro asked. "Is he strong?"

A dark look flashed across his face. "Stronger than you can imagine. He's been supercharged with some shadow steroids or something given straight from the boss. I reckon he's just toying with your friends there since Trane isn't here."

"Damn," I said urgently. "We have to go and help-"

"BANG!"

I was interrupted as Veland fired, causing me to dodge out of the way. He got into a stance, hopping on the balls of his feet while he twirled his twin Desert Eagles in his hands.

"You guys are still my opponents. Play along…" He said, raising one of his arms to take aim. "She's watching."

* * *

**Author's Notes : **Yes, it's been a year since my last post. I'm very sorry about that. No, I'm not dead, I've just been extremely busy with classes and stuff. Throw in a chronic case of writer's block and that's my alibi. I still have tons of ideas for this story, I just found it really hard to join this part of the story into that. Finally got those words in though, so expect more frequent updates. Y'know, comparatively.

Tell me readers, how would you like your own character in this story? Let me know the details of them, and we'll work something out.


	15. The Battle's Outcome

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

**Risette**

Roy and I stood side by side, opposite the hooded man as he paced casually from left to right, waiting for our next move. I had received some minor cuts, but Magic Guard had absorbed most of the damage taken. However, that meant my mana was extremely low now, and I was exhausted. Even healing Roy's wounds now was pushing me to my limit.

_We can't win at this rate._

"Roy, we have to retreat." I said, concerned about the injuries he sustained.

"No!" He snarled, his grip on his sword tightening. "We still have one more shot. Use 'that' spell. I'll hold him off while you focus your mana."

"What? No, you'll be killed before I can-"

"I'll be fine with it if it manages to take that bastard down! Just have some faith in me on this one, yeah?" He smiled before charging at the hooded man.

* * *

**Roy**

Sprinting at him with full speed, I used one of my most risky techniques, Rage, abandoning all defense for the sake of pure offense. Gripping one of the shortswords, I flung it at him with full force, sending it whirling at him at a blazing speed. Drawing the other two blades, I kicked off the ground with all my strength, sending me flying at him. He deflected my greatsword, ricocheting it into the sky. A moment later I was in front of him, lashing out at him. Caught by surprise, he barely managed to block it, and was sent sliding back from the force. A minute cut appeared above his left eye.

I immediately pressed the advantage and chased him down. He recovered just in time to block a swing aimed for his head. I struck out with a flurry of attacks, keeping him on the defensive. I siphoned my stamina to charge up several combo orbs with each swing, slowly building up momentum.

His speed finally caught up, and he managed to knock the shortsword out of my hand, but the adrenalin and instinct I got from Rage and Combo Attack together let me anticipate which direction the sword was headed. Twisting my body sideways, I dodged a stab aimed for my gut and simultaneously caught the shortsword midair, quickly merging it with the greatsword and increasing its raw power. Coming around from my spin, I brandished the sword and slashed at him viciously. He blocked it, but he lost grip on his dagger which flew towards his face, giving him another cut on the forehead and throwing him backwards onto the ground.

While he was stunned, I leaped into the air and grabbed the final sword which was beginning it's decent from earlier. Realizing the threat I now posed, he lashed out at me with his chain dagger, coiling it around my leg. As I was yanked back towards him, I combined the last sword together, amplifying it's power again to its maximum strength.

"Try blocking this!" I yelled, swinging the blade with all my might. All the spheres which were previously spinning around me focused on the blade and fused into it, causing it to burn with a bright blue aura. It met his jagged dagger, erupting in an explosion of cloud and dust.

* * *

**Trane**

I was watching all this unfold through a portal Zenith had conjured. She had control over some annoying time-manipulating abilities, effectively preventing my limbs from moving. I had previously thought that she controlled fire, although she seems awfully protective of that staff of hers...

"Oh, I just love explosions!" She chuckled in amusement after watching Roy's attack.

Had Roy been that strong? Was he saving that attack just for this guy? At any rate, hopefully it managed to take this guy out.

_Then Rise will be safe, _I prayed silently.

* * *

**Risette**

As the dust cleared from the impact, I saw them in a furious sword lock, Roy having just managed to pin the man to the ground, preventing his movement.

"Risette!" He roared. "Cast it now!"

"I can't, you'll be hit as well!"

"DO IT!"

I knew the spell would outright kill Roy, so I sacrificed a bit of mana from the spell I had been charging and coated him in a light resistance shield.

I held my fan in front of my face and gathered all my remaining mana, wind beginning to rise around me.

"Soul of the storm, fury of the sky..."

My fan began sparking with electricity, forming an orb of energy in front of it.

"Answer my call...", I whispered, raising my fan up to the sky, the orb fusing with the electricity.

"Lightning!" I yelled, snapping the fan shut. The orb compressed, then exploded into a long, crackling bolt of lightning.

Teleporting above the two of them, I took aim and prayed quietly.

_Please, let this work._

"Thunder Spear!" I cried out, throwing the lightning bolt at them. It impacted faster than I could blink, causing a tremendous explosion of rocks and debris.

I landed roughly back on the ground, having completely emptied my mana pool from the spell. Kneeling at the edge of the newly made crater, I saw Roy lying unconcious, his clothes singed and covered in soot, but the shield earlier had saved him from the bulk of the damage. Next to him, impaled on his sword, was the hooded man's cloak, ripped to shreds and fluttering slightly in the wind.

_We did it..._

"Not bad at all."

Gasping in shock, I turned around to see the man walking towards me, his cloak gone, revealing his face, completely unscathed save for the two cuts given earlier by Roy.

He had dark black hair with white streaks, slicked backwards. His eyes were a dark red, but the lower half of his face was still covered in a mask.

"But...how...how are you unharmed?" I asked in disbelief.

"That spell of yours might have injured me a bit. That is, if it was even the real me you struck."

I gritted my teeth, but I had no energy to fight, let alone run. And he knew that.

He threw his dagger behind him, embedding it into a large boulder. A glowing purple chain began to form between his arm and the dagger, and he narrowed his eyes at me. His cold, blood-red eyes revealed his evil intent, to kill. He began swinging the boulder around his head like a lasso, and sent it flying towards me.

I had no means of escape. I was too exhausted to move, and had no mana to block it or teleport away. It was over. I reached into my pocket, clutching the frozen rose I had gotten from Trane.

_If only I managed to tell you how I felt..._

I closed my eyes tightly, expecting death.

* * *

Nothing came. Was death so painless?

_"Rise..."_, I heard Trane's voice say. I gasped at the sound of his voice, inhaling a cloud of dust and coughing.

_Wait, coughing?_

My eyes snapped open, my vision blurred from the sudden exposure of light. As it focused, I saw the boulder on either side of me, sliced cleanly in half. In front of me was the back of a figure in a black coat, wielding a katana. He turned his head slightly to me and gave a slight smile that made my heart flutter.

I opened my mouth to say something, but my head pounded in pain and my vision blacked out, losing consciousness in the process.

I slipped in and out of consciousness, only managing to catch portions of my surroundings at a time.

...

"So you finally showed yourself...good. Now I can finally get serious." The man said to Trane, getting into a battle stance for the first time.

"You will die for having even tried to hurt her." Came Trane's reply, his tone cold as ice.

They both disappeared in a blur, reappearing in front of each other, their blades meeting in an echoing clash.

...

Trane danced around, dodging the man's ranged attacks with his chain daggers, determined to close the distance so he could strike.

Ducking under another stab, he found a proper angle and vanished in a blur. The next moment, he was pushing a pouch of coins into the man's chest, then kicking him away and simultaneously snapping his fingers, triggering a massive explosion.

...

Trane stood at the edge of the cloud of dust caused by the explosion, watching carefully for any movement while panting heavily. His coat was torn in several places and he had deep cuts on his face and arms. I could tell that he had reached his limit.

_Get up...you can heal him..._

Even though I told myself that, my body still refused to respond.

Without warning, two daggers flew up from beneath the ground, catching Trane off guard and impaling him in the chest from behind. The daggers were connected by glowing chains from the soil, lifting him off his feet and leaving him helpless.

The man slowly walked out of the dust towards him as he gasped with pain.

"It is over. You have lost."

...

"...-on your arm will prove to be quite the nuisance. No doubt the master will go through a tedious process to have it removed in order to prevent physical harm." He said to Trane, pacing around him as he was suspended helplessly, blood dripping from the wound.

He stopped in front of him and suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Trane's katana from his hand.

"But I have a better idea."

...

My consciousness returned again to see the man walking away, carrying Trane over his shoulder. He was unconscious, and a dark trail of blood was left behind, flowing out of his arm. Wait...his arm...oh my god...it had been cut off at the shoulder, blood, almost black in color, gushing out of it.

_Oh my god, no...No! Trane!_

"TRANE!", I screamed, my voice finally returning. I tried to get up, but someone put their arm on my shoulder. I looked up to see Chihiro, her scarf full of bullet holes, but she was unharmed.

Desmond walked up from behind me, along with Veland.

"If it helps, he isn't dead. He just passed out from shock, y'know, from...losing his...arm..." Veland said hopefully.

"WHERE ARE YOU TAKING HIM?" I shouted, slapping him on the face, leaving a frosted handprint on his cheek.

"I...cannot say. Not now." He replied, his face dead serious this time. He opened his mouth to say something else, then decided against it, turned and left in the same direction.

"Don't blame yourself, Risette." Desmond said quietly. "There's nothing you could have done. None of us could have stopped him, even together."

"That's exactly why I'm blaming myself...", I cried, tears welling up in my eyes. "Trane knew that, and he still fought him alone! All because he was protecting me! Because of me, he..."

I couldn't help it. I began to cry my heart out. And I couldn't stop.

* * *

**Author's Notes :** _I was rather depressed to write this chapter, as we get to see how strong the enemy is, and how it shows that I can't do emotional scenes for shit. New chapters won't come as frequently as before, but definitely not yearly like chapter 14. Classes have started for me and it's taking much more time out of my life than I expected. I have every intention to finish this story, but no intention to rush it either in fear of missing plot points._

_Special thanks to Insanity's Light, my beta, and to 21 Blue, who supported me when I was doubtful of continuing this fanfiction. And also to Joshua, my roommate, for helping me act out and visualize the fight scenes which weren't playing out right in my head._

_Read and Review please, it would mean a lot. =]_


	16. The Choices We Make

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

**Trane**

My eyes snapped open. My vision was blur and my head was pounding. Grunting, I pushed myself up, only to roll over on my left. I looked at my arm, or at least, the stump that used to be my arm.

_Oh, right..._

I winced gingerly, then forced myself to my feet. I took in my surroundings, everything was gray and obscure. I gritted my teeth and waited for my head to clear, then I noticed that I was in a room made of stone, resembling one which an old castle would have.

As if on queue, the door of the room opened, and Zenith walked in. She looked at me, then scowled when she saw my missing arm.

"You have awoken. It took you much longer than anticipated, but then again, it was indeed a case of dismemberment. However," she went on, pacing back and forth. "It was a good, clean cut that you endured. Normally, people would have died from blood loss due to this kind of injury, but the efficiency of it reduced the blood greatly."

She stopped pacing, and gestured to follow her.

"Come along now. It's time."

I said nothing, and followed her out of the room, into a hallway.

* * *

**FLASHBACK.**

_"Look." She said, pointing at the tattoo which had returned to it's original color. "That crescent moon symbolizes night, a.k.a shadows or darkness. The thingy around it is the mark of Ouroboros, which seals the outer world from the inner world."_

_"So!" She said, getting up. "To join these two together would mean that that thing is a seal, with the purpose of preventing the power of darkness you now possess from being utilized. Is that correct?"_

_I didn't answer her, but she knew she was right._

_"So what do you want?" I asked._

_"There's no need to have such a look on your face, boy." Zenith mocked me. "All I want is to bring you up to speed on current events."_

_"Do tell."_

_"I serve under one who is greater than us all, one who would reshape this broken world as he sees fit, and bestow glory upon those that deserve it. In this current world, everyone is treated equally amongst each other. People with strength or power make no difference in society, yet they are the ones who influence the future. My master intends to correct this, and he would have you join us."_

_"And why would I do that?_

_"I will not shower you with false promises, I assure you. I can, however, tell you that the side you are on may not be the right one."_

_"Explain."_

_"Patience, boy. Time is not going anywhere without you. If you require doubt, you need only look at your so called masters. Such power was granted to you, the power to fight, to defend those dear to you. But the first thing your 'masters' do is to lock it away, without even an explanation."_

_I contemplated what she said. I was thinking the exact same thing when they put the seal on my arm. She noticed this, and smirked._

_"I have no reason to lie to you, I have yet to tell you any such lie. I will be honest with you. We have been watching over you since the beginning of your journey. My master sees the potential in you, and he would not let it go to waste because your 'masters' claim it to be so."_

_I took her words into account, but I was still calling bullshit._

_"I see you are still not convinced." She said. "Very well. A few weeks ago, you were having a, what was it, sparring session, with your friends, yes? After that you lost consciousness, and for three weeks you disappeared, and yet, it felt like ten minutes to you, did it not? How do you think time would have moved so quickly for you?"_

_I stared at her for a while, then I realized in shock what she was saying. She saw my face and laughed, knowing she got the point across._

_She clapped her hands together and released them. In front of her, a portal opened up, showing a battleground. The same battleground everyone else had gone to. On queue, Roy flew into view, chasing a cloaked man wielding two daggers. Behind him was Risette, doing whatever she could to help Roy. But to anyone experienced with battle, it was clear to see; they were no match for him._

_I immediately began to move for the portal, but Zenith splayed her hands outward at me, and all of a sudden, my body would not move. My nerves and muscles were all working, but I was just stuck, like a bad lag._

_"The man in the cloak you see is under orders of my master. Our objective was to draw you out for a discussion, away from the prying ears of the Job Instructors. As he spent all the time getting there, only to find that you are not there, I'm sure he's willing to let off a little steam on your friends."_

_"I'm here now, aren't I? Tell him to stop."_

_"Tut, tut, I can't do that. He probably wouldn't listen to me anyway." She said, twirling her staff, fire sparking slightly out of it._

_I watched as Roy did an extremely powerful move I didn't know he was capable of doing, causing a large explosion, obscuring the view of the portal._

_"Oh, I just love explosions!" Zenith chuckled._

_Smoke was still blocking my vision of the scene, but a sudden sound of electricity struck, causing yet again another explosion, this one blowing all the smoke away._

_They did it. They beat him. I sighed in relief._

_"Not bad at all." A cold voice punctuated the silence._

* * *

_"Now," Zenith said. "It appears that your friends are in danger, so here's what I'm going to do. As a sign of goodwill, I will release the spell binding you from moving. I only ask that whatever you do next, you take full responsibly for the consequences. Does that sound fair?"_

_"Fine." I said. This wasn't the time to think about stupid deals or anything. I have to save them, and I have to do it NOW._

_She waved her hand, and I felt my limbs respond again. Immediately, I darted into the portal, moving as fast as I could, the world a blur._

_I sprinted across the battlefield, approaching them as I watched the man hurl a boulder towards Rise. I jumped forward with all my strength, reaching her just in time, and slicing the boulder in half with an Assaulter._

**END FLASHBACK.**

* * *

"We have arrived." Zenith stated, knocking me out of my flashback. How long were we walking? In any case, we were now standing outside a large set of doors.

_I've seen this door before...back when I gained control of the darkness._

However, before, the doors were sealed, preventing me from entering. No lightning here now though. Zenith gestured to the door, and nodded. I pushed the door open and walked inside.

The first thing I saw was a huge set of stairs, leading to a platform I couldn't see the surface of. To my right I saw the man from the video, the one with the pistols. He appeared to be playing with two action figures, one badly designed to resemble me, and the other his partner. He was swinging them both wildly about, making his own sound effects and cheesy dialogue. He accidentally hit them together, and the arm of the doll-me snapped off. "Oh no!" He yelled, trying to put it back together, then he stopped.

"Oh, wait. Hahah, talk about realism. Hey Stabby!" He called to the man on the other side of the room. "Did you see that? I'm awesome even by accident!"

The man face palmed, sighing in irritation. "I swear, Winchester, one day I am going to kill you." He looked up and saw me, his red eyes narrowing. He clenched his fist, which was bandaged, and nodded his head towards the stairs. I gave him a cold glare, which he returned with ease, then made my way up the steps.

**Come closer...**

As I made my way up the stairs, I could feel the temperature drop with each step. But this wasn't the normal kind of temperature. This icy cold feeling felt like it was seeping into my very soul.

Once I reached the top I gave the area a quick once-over. At the back of the platform was a giant glass window, showing the view outside. The sky was tinted a dark crimson red, storm clouds were rolling in, punctuating the silence with the occasional strike of lightning. In the middle of the platform was a grand throne. And sitting in the throne...

**"So your journey has finally led you to me...and of your own accord, as I promised..."**

The figure on the throne was robed and hooded, casting a shadow over his face, masking his features. His eyes were more resemblant to narrow, glowing orbs, lightning crackling out of them. His body appeared to be bound to the throne by several massive chains that rattled with each breath he took. When he spoke, a chilly mist emanated from where his mouth should be.

_The Black Magician..._

**"You would do well to remember our agreement..."**

* * *

**FLASHBACK.**

_I pushed the pouch of mesos into the man's chest, then delivered a swift kick to his stomach, sending him flying backwards. The second I was far enough to avoid the blast, I snapped my fingers, causing an extremely satisfying Meso Explosion. I squinted my eyes, trying to see through the smoke and debris. A move like that wouldn't be close enough to killing him._

Where are you...?

_I found out the answer too late. I heard a crumbling in the ground beneath me. But before I was able to jump away, two daggers shot up from beneath the earth impaling me from the front and back. The daggers were connected to the ground via glowing chains, effectively leaving me suspended helplessly in the air._

_"It is over." He said, walking out of the smoke towards me. "You have lost."_

_I tried to retaliate, but I was too busy coughing up blood._

_"I wonder," He continued. "Who is going to stop me from killing you all now? Perhaps I should start with your little mage girl?" He gestured towards Rise, who was lying unconscious._

_"Stop." I managed to say. "What *cough* do you want...?"_

_"You know exactly what I want. You WILL join us. It is as the master desires."_

_I looked around, searching desperately for anything I could use to get me down, to beat this asshole down, and save the others...to save Rise._

_There was nothing. I had no other options._

_"Don't *cough* hurt my friends...and I'll *cough* go with you..."_

_"You don't have a say in the matter, brat." He snarled, twisting his wrist, causing the daggers still embedded in my chest to twist as well. He was silent for a moment while I writhed in pain._

_"Fine. The master has asked me to ensure you that we will not harm your friends, unless physically provoked first."_

_I guess that's the most I can hope for...I'm sorry, guys..._

_I hung my head in defeat._

_"...I...accept. I will join you."_

_The moment I said that, I could feel the darkness trying to force itself out. Like before, the seal on my arm glowed blue, and a jolt of pain shot through my arm._

_He surveyed my arm, narrowing his eyes when he saw the seal._

_"The master would have you brought to him at full potential. That thing on your arm will prove to be quite the nuisance. The master will no doubt go through a long and tedious process to have it removed." His eyes glinted for a moment and he grabbed my katana out of my hand._

_"But I have a better idea." He shifted into a batto-jutsu stance, and swung._

_I didn't notice anything, until I heard a dull thud on the ground next to me. I looked at the source to see my arm, from the shoulder, lying uselessly on the ground. I didn't even have time to contemplate my situation before my head went black from the shock and blood-loss._

**END FLASHBACK.**

* * *

"...I will hold my end of the agreement."

He laughed, a cold, evil laugh that pierced through the chamber. As he laughed, darkness started spreading from him, covering the entire room in darkness. When my vision adjusted, I found myself in the middle of an arena, much like a coliseum. Sitting high above me was the Black Magician, still in his throne.

**"This is a Sekai Rei...an alternate space of matter where only it's creator can control the rules of..."**

As he spoke, a whirlpool of darkness appeared next to him, and a figure stepped out. He was wearing black armor, and had the same glowing yellow eyes, but his lower face was covered by a mask.

**_"Time for an evaluation. Get ready_****."** The figure spoke with the same distortion I spoke with when I released the darkness, only with a sneer in his voice.

He raised his arms forward and pulled to scimitars out from nowhere, and flourished them at me. I sprinted forwards towards him, running vertically up the wall when I reached it. At the same time, he dived downwards, flinging one of the swords at me as he plummeted. I caught it and continued running, clashing our swords together once as we passed each other.

I back-flipped off the wall and landed in front of him with an overhead swing, only to have him parry my attack and punch me in the gut with his other hand. I staggered back as he leered at me, raising his arm and giving me the universal sign of "Come on if you think you're hard enough."

I ran at him, aiming for his legs due to his aggressive high stance. He saw it coming, and blocked it easily.

**_"Oh come on, is that really all you can do?"_**He sneered. **_"Looks like everyone else was just talking crap! You're nothing!"_**

He pushed me back, and began his counterattack. I managed to block his string of attacks but he kept circling me counter-clockwise, keeping me on the defensive due to my missing arm.

**_"I'm not even trying, y'know. It's like hitting a barn with a basketball!"_**

He suddenly darted forwards and knocked the sword out of my hands. Then he threw his sword to the ground and tackled me down.

**_"You can't beat me like this, cripple!"_**He laughed, punching me repeatedly in the face.**_ "You're so weak!" _***punch*_ **"Is it because you only have one arm?" **_*punch***_ "No wonder you couldn't save Rise! At this rate," _***punch*

**_"You'll! Never! Protect! Anyone!"_**He screamed in my face, punching my face in with each word for emphasis.

He got off me and walked off, massaging his knuckles. I stayed down. I couldn't beat him. He was right...I let everyone down. I couldn't protect the others, I couldn't protect myself. There was nothing I could do...

_I...resign myself...to nothingness..._

**"Zenith..."**

The Black Magician called, and she appeared next to me and bowed.

"Yes, master?"

**"Heal his arm. He is ready."**

"As you command." She knelt down by my arm and placed her arm on the stump, then drew it outwards, forming a cylinder of golden light.

"Time!" She yelled. Right before my eyes, bone started forming, a skeleton of an arm. Then it was followed by muscle, and skin. When it finished, I experimentally flexed my fingers. They moved.

I clenched my fists and darkness erupted around me. causing my opponent to spin around, eyes widened in shock.

"This world...where only it's creator can control..." I raised my arm, darkness spiraling around it.

"Only it's creator can change the rules..."

The spiral of darkness dissipated, revealing my katana in my hand, the blade glinting, thirsting for action. He charged at me and swung, his blade making contact with my chest.

The blade shattered.

"Well, this world is mine now. And the rules now say; 'You Lose'."

**_"Wha...what are you?" _**He stammered, backing away from me, eyes widened. I could sense his fear.

He looked up to the Black Magician, begging for an escape. He was waved off.

**"Finish Him."**

I raised my sword high, willing the darkness all around me to flow into the sword, sucking it in like a vacuum.

"I am the embodiment of fear and hate, of malice and spite."

The walls of the coliseum began to crumble, pieces of it getting absorbed into my katana.

"I am the darkness lying in peoples hearts."

I looked directly at my opponent, who was now close to pissing himself, his back pressed against the wall.

"I art thou. And thou art I. From the sea of darkness in your soul, I cometh. I Am A Shadower, The True Self."

I gripped my katana tighter, ready to strike.

_There's no turning back. I have made my decision._

**"Mugetsu."** I growled, swinging my arm downwards and unleashing my most powerful attack. The darkness released from the katana, slicing through the air with no inhibitions. It struck it's target, cutting through him like butter, then cutting through the wall behind him, then reaching the edge of the Sekai Rei, causing the surroundings to shatter, revealing the throne room once more. Only the mask he wore remained, and I watched as it rolled to my feet.

The burst of energy vanished, and I dropped to my knees in exhaustion. I looked at my arm. It was like new, only better. I felt so much power inside me. And it felt good.

"Trane Koroshio wins! FATALITY!" I heard from behind me. The gunslinger was looking around with a grin plastered on his face, his hand searching for a high-five. No one gave it to him.

"What?" He asked, after a few seconds of awkward silence, high-fiving himself. "It was too good to pass up."

**"It is done..."**

I looked up to see the Black Magician. As I looked, one of the chain links cracked, then broke, The chains binding one of his arms slid off, hitting the ground with a loud clang that echoed in the room. Instantly, the pressure of power he emanated increased tenfold.

**"And so it begins."** He said, observing his newly freed arm, bony and skeletal.

I picked up the mask from the ground as I stood up, and put it on.

"I suppose so...master."

* * *

**BACK IN ELLINIA.**

There were 4 teenagers sitting in a room, all their faces showing disappointment, irritation, rage, and despair.

"How did we let this happen...?" Chihiro sulked, swinging her legs as she sat on a chair, her lips pouted.

"We had no way of knowing how things would have turned out that day." Desmond said, leaning against the all, his arms folded. "We can't keep blaming ourselves like this.

"Like hell we can't!" Roy snapped. He had been bedridden for the pas few days, his arms and legs wrapped in bandages. The move he used that day had released so much physical power that it had torn several muscles in his limbs. "We had such a clear chance, and we blew it. How do we know we'll ever get an opportunity like that again?"

Desmond and Chihiro shot him a look, then looked at Risette, who was standing by the window, staring outside with melancholy.

"It's alright, guys." She smiled sadly. "Desmond's right. We have nothing to gain by blaming ourselves." She put her hand against the window, and the glass around her frosted.

_Even so, I could have helped him...I could have healed him...he came because of me...if I hadn't gotten caught like that..._

"Fuck!" Everyone turned to see Roy clamber out of his bed, grab a crutch propped by the wall, and limp out of the room. "I'm gonna go let off some steam."

"Oh for..." Desmond sighed, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

"You know the doc' said you're supposed to keep your ass in bed, right?" He shouted after him, following him outside, leaving Chihiro and Risette in the room.

After a minute or so of silence, Chihiro stood up abruptly and huffed.

"Alright, it's decided!"

"Wh...what's decided?" Risette asked, confused. Chihiro walked right up to her and stuck her face in front of her.

"You and I are going to do some serious training! We know for a fact that Trane isn't dead, or they woulda done away with him right there. And if my sources are right, we'll definitely see him again!"

"You...really think so?"

"You bet I do! And when we do see him, we're gonna be so strong that we'll kick the butts of anyone who tried to stop us and bring him back ourselves!"

Risette was quiet for a moment. She made a good point. There was no use crying about what happened. The best thing to do was to be ready for the next time, so she could be the one to save him, so they could bring him home.

"You're right." She finally said, smiling honestly this time. "Let's help each other get stronger."

"Woo-yeah! Alright!" Chihiro yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

...

"Hey Chihiro?

"Yeah Rise-chan?"

"Who's this 'source' of yours?"

"Eep! Uh! ...Okay, you caught me. Well...it's a long story. See, remember that day there was the one guy with the guns and those blue,blue eyes? Yeah, so he...-"

* * *

Roy was standing on one of the platforms overlooking the station to Orbis, at the edge of Ellinia forest. He just needed some fresh air to get the anger out of his system. Yeah, that's it.

_Inhale...exhale...inhale..._

"Hope you had fun climbing all the way up here." Roy turned to see Desmond walking up to him, hands in his pockets. "You don't have to keep blaming yourself, you know."

"Don't patronize me, man...we all know I could've beaten him then and there...but I still lost...I still wasn't strong enough...and now-GURK!"

He was interrupted by Desmond kicking him in the face, his hands still in his pockets.

"What the hell was that for, asshole?"

"Don't you get it? You weren't strong enough before, so your goal is clear. You're gonna have to get your ass out of self-hate and get stronger, so the next time you see him you can whip his ass all over Victoria. Now get up, or do I have to beat that into your head myself?"

Roy got up, a scowl on his face as he wiped blood from his mouth where Desmond kicked him. Then he broke into a smirk, which Desmond returned.

"You're a dick, you know that?"

"Look who's talking."

"Alright man...I'll get stronger. But I won't be doing it alone.

"Obviously. I won't be left in the dust. I'll always be there to kick your ass back on the right track."

"Then how 'bout a lesson right now?" Roy asked, getting into his battle stance, using the crutch as a makeshift sword.

"Bring it, crutch-boy." Desmond replied, both their smirks cracking into wide grins as they charged at each other.


	17. Edelstein

**DISCLAIMER :** MapleStory does not belong to me, and is under full copyright of Nexon, Wizet, and Asiasoft. And any other company that owns it. I hold no right to the use of the related names and in-game characters. I do, however, hold full rights to the personality and construction of the story, and the OC's that may and will appear throughout the story.

* * *

**In an underground cellar beneath New Leaf City..**

"Alright, people, this is a stick up! Pay up, or get beat up!"

"Uh, boss? I tink it suhposed ter be 'beaten'.."

"Ain't nobody gon' be takin any grammar lessons from you, Puck."

"Nice going, Ringo, you just gave away one of our names. Why don't you just tell em where we live too?"

"Enough! All of you, shut the hell up! Geez, you're all a bunch of morons. This is our debut as the Vicious Cutthroats, the most dangerous and feared bandit gang in Maple. So you better read your script and get your damn lines right!"

"Yes, boss.." Was the unanimous reply, as their leader sat down in a chair and massaged his temples.

Organized crime was so hard to come by these days. It had taken him long enough to find people willing enough to start a gang. He was so focused on just that, that he forgot to add 'competent and not a complete idiot' to the list.

Still, he managed to rouse up a good 50 men, enough to be feared, and enough to control. If not a mafia, a group of bandits would suffice.

Their debut plan was simple, yet large-scale. They were going to rob New Leaf Bank. See? Simple, yet large-scale. Originally, they were going to sneak in and take out the guards, then dress up as them so there would be no resistance. That plan was shot down almost immediately when someone asked him, "Uh...Whutsa..'gard'?"

_Well, _he thought. _I guess an all out frontal assault would work too._

"Alright, slugs!" He shouted to the others. "Let's run through it one last time!"

The others scurried into their positions, like children in a school play.

"Alright, people, this is a stick-up! Pay up, or you'll get beaten up!"

"That's right, put all your mesos in this 'ere bag, and everyone gets to go home tonight."

_Pause for effect while the money rolls in..._

"Congratulations, people, nobody dies today. Remember who was responsible for this."

They all struck a badly practiced pose.

"We are the Vicious Cutthroats! Yaaargh!"

Everyone was silent, looking around at each other, smiling unsurely.

"See?" Their leader said. "Not so hard, was it?"

"Not at all, boss! Dem 2 weeks uv praktis shur paid awf!" One of them cheered, causing him to slap his forehead.

Amidst their cheering, one of them suddenly spoke in an alert tone.

"Quiet!" He hissed. "Do you hear that?" They all quietened down and listened.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

"Bravo, bravo."

The thugs turned to the entrance doorway, seeing a figure approach from the shadows. The first thing to be revealed in the light were a pair of combat boots, followed by black cargo pants, sleeveless zipped vest, and spiky blond hair. Sheathed on his back was a ridiculously huge sword.

"Well, that was a splendid performance, if I do say so myself." He said with a smirk on his face.

"You've come to the wrong place, fella. Do you have any idea who we are?" The leader snarled, trying to be as intimidating as possible. One of the thugs whipped out a dagger at the intruder.

"Yeah! We're the most fearsome bandit group, the Vicious Cutthr-"

He was interrupted by the man giving his face a high-five with his fist, sending him literally flying into the opposite wall, knocking over five of his friends.

Everyone in the room looked dumbstruck at the destruction, then turned back to the intruder.

"However," He said, rubbing his knuckles. "I think some script modifications are in order. What do you think, Desmond?"

The men heard a pounding on the wall to their left. After a few seconds, the wall exploded, sending more people flying. Another man walked through the rubble. He was clad in white pants and a matching white jacket, worn over a black shirt with a flaming skull imprinted on it.

"I dunno, Roy. It's too much of a bother to redo the whole thing." He drawled, brushing dust off his naturally grey hair. "I'd rather we just skip to the finale."

The thugs surrounded them, brandishing all sorts of weapons; swords, daggers, bows, hammers, umbrellas. One of them was even holding what appeared to be a giant paintbrush.

The two men, Roy Tevinter and Desmond Delite, stood back to back in the center of the room.

"What do you think?" Desmond asked, eyes surveying the room.

"Might be tough," Roy replied, drawing one of his shortswords. "If one more shows up."

"Then that'll be the one I take care of." He pulled on his gloves and flexed his fingers.

"What, you're fighting too?" Roy smirked.

The bandit leader looked at the scene, no one moving a muscle.

"Don't just stand there! Get em!" He shouted, and all hell broke loose.

It wasn't long before the leader decided he had better hightail it out of there. He began sneaking towards the back door, dodging the flying bodies and clambering over others. He reached the door, grabbing the handle and turning back with a triumphant look on his face. But when he pulled, the door wouldn't budge.

He looked back at his hand to see the door covered in ice, freezing it shut. A girl materialized from nowhere in the middle of the room. She wore a long red dress to match her flaming red hair. She opened her fan and raised it into the air, and the temperature dropped to the point of freezing. The ground turned to ice, and all his men started slipping and falling, ice encasing their bodies once they were incapacitated.

The leader managed to use the handle of his dagger to smash the ice, then tried to make a run for it. He heard a whistling noise, and the next moment, he was pinned to the wall by an arrow under his sleeve. Before he could react, he saw dozens of arrows flying at him. He closed his eyes shut and gave a less-than-manly scream, but opened them again when he felt no pain. He tried moving his arms, but something was blocking them. He tried to look at the source, but something was blocking his head from moving too. He was surrounded by arrows, outlining his shape perfectly from head to toe.

"You ain't gon' be goin' nowhere, slug!" A girl's voice shouted at him. She was wearing a white sweater and a short brown skirt, a red scarf tied around her neck as she took aim with her bow. She gave a small giggle. "That's how you're supposed to say it, right?"

His eyes widened in horror as the four kids who looked no older than 18 approached him. All 50 of his men were defeated without so much as breaking a sweat.

"Now," Roy said with a manic grin, his eyes shining with glee. "It looks like its your turn."

/Demons! These kids are demons!/, the leader started panicking as they stepped towards him, drawing their weapons.

"I surrender! Please don't kill meeeee!"

**Roy**

Rounding up those bandits was a bother at first. For one, we took ages to find their base. For almost a week all we've been able to get were just rumors of something big being planned in NLC. Once we were there however, it was easy enough to find them. Risette's healing skills have gotten tons better, to the point where she can sense peoples life energy. Needless to say, she easily discovered their meeting place.

Her offensive skills weren't too shabby, either. Now she can freeze things by looking at them. Not to mention she can hurl lightning spears. Freaking. Lightning. Spears.

Chihiro gotten a hell of a lot faster. It's hard to keep up with her speed, and her arrows don't help with that. The last time we timed her volley speed, it was about 120 shots per second. Damn. Oh, she can also do ricocheting and explosive shots too. Double damn. And for some unexplainable reason, whenever she fights, I just can't get a look up her skirt. Triple damn.

Desmond's got this cool skill where he punches a rock in the right way and poof, it turns into powder. He says with the right stance and training, he'd eventually be able to land punches from a distance, using just pure air pressure. Normally I'd have doubted him, but the last time we sparred, I got a razor-sharp cut on my cheek, even though I swear I completely dodged his punch.

Me? I guess I haven't changed much. I've gotten stronger and faster, but I don't really have or need any new moves, save one. I still need some practice on that one though.

Oh yeah, I've been forced to learn some defensive skills too, cause Dances With Balrog was all "A true warrior supports a strong offense with a solid defense."

The way I see it, if you take down your enemy quick enough, you won't have anything to defend against.

_Like these guys._ I thought, as they walked into the jail, their hands frozen together by Risette's ice. _Took em down, didn't even block. I wonder if there's an achievement for that? Or maybe a trophy?_

I was brought out of my thoughts by my phone ringing, blasting out the steady riffs of Back In Black by AC/DC.

"Yellow?" I said, finally answering.

"Bring yourself and the other class representatives to Kerning City." Came the low, gruff voice of Dark Lord. Before I could open my mouth to reply, he ended the call abruptly.

_Pff..._

* * *

"We have a mission for you." Dark Lord said, in his usual dark voice. Wonder where the "lord" bit comes from..

"About time, too." I replied, earning a look of annoyance from him. "We've had enough of running around and getting random missions from random people doing random stuff! You know, the last one we did had us hunting for a group of bandits and taking them out ourselves! Then you know what we get as a reward? A pair of shoes! They don't even fit me!"

"At any rate," Desmond interjected while I caught my breath. "What does the mission entail?"

He threw a rolled up piece of paper at Desmond, who caught it.

"That is a map of the town of Edelstein. It has always been a secluded town, but we have reason to believe that it is under control of the Black Wings."

"I'm sorry, Black Wings?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"The Black Wings are the army that serve the Black Magician. They're cruel and selfish people, and won't hesitate to resort to violence if necessary." Risette told me in a low voice. Then her eyes lit up.

"Excuse me..but if you're giving us a mission related to them, does that mean..?" She asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, no." He said, causing several sighs of disappointment. "As much as it annoys me, we have heard no news of Trane Koroshio. This mission will have nothing related to him."

"But," Chihiro asked. "Then why did you call us here instead of our own job instructors?"

"As the representatives, you are a special division, undertaking special missions entrusted to only you. In a way, you are our eyes, ears and hands on the outside."

He jumped up to the ceiling and started pacing upside-down, clearly unhappy about having to talk so much.

"I am in charge of recon and stealth missions. Kyrin handles global emergencies. You can ask the others yourself."

"Why does-?"

"Enough." He snapped, dropping to the floor and landing on his feet. "You four will go to Edelstein, find any information that will confirm or disprove our suspicions, then return. Dismissed." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"...So." I said after a while, clasping my hands together. "Who's up for a field trip?"

"Edelstein, huh? I wonder if the food there is any good, I'm starving." I groaned. We had been flying for about four hours now. The pilot was telling us about how it would only take a minute. About two hours in I went and asked him what the deal was.

"Oh no, you seem to have misunderstood me. I said I could make this 5 hour trip FEEL like a minute. Relax, take in the scenery, and watch the time fly by!"

Old people and their theories.

"According to the map, Edelstein's a mining town located in the middle of a canyon. That's why we can only get in by air." Desmond said, examining the map closely.

"The canyon is said to be the home of the jaguars. They can't be found anywhere else. I'd like to see them, honestly." Risette mused, playing with what looked like a frozen rose. She'd been doing that a lot lately.

"Ooh, jaguars!" I perked up. "Sounds like meat to me! I bet if we could catch one, it'd feed us for days- OW, Chihiro! Not cool!" I whined when Chihiro slapped me on the arm. Hard. Not that it hurt, obviously, but she's a girl. Girls like it when you let them win.

"Don't be stupid, Roy! These are rare creatures we're talking about!" She said. "You know, There's a rumor that in the canyon lives the most ferocious and elusive jaguar around. Apparently she feeds off fear and her fur is made of shadow. They call her, 'Jaira'."

"Jaira? Sounds like appetizer." I joked, earning another slap on the arm.

"Oww..."

We all perked up as the loudspeaker played an announcement.

_/We have arrived at the town of Edelstein. Please be sure to follow the rules and customs set by the authorities. We hope you have a pleasant visit./_

"Hey, we're here!" Chihiro cheered as we gathered our equipment and prepared to leave.

Meanwhile, in a different cabin...

"Is that all you need me to do?" A low voice said into a phone as he sat at a table, sharpening a small throwing knife. He was quiet as he heard the reply.

"And if they show up? ...Very well." He put down the phone, then lazily picked up the knife and threw it, hitting the centre of the dart board hung up on the door.

His ears perked as he heard an announcement on the intercom.

_/We have arrived at the town of Edelstein. Please be sure to follow the rules and customs set by the authorities. We hope you have a pleasant visit./_

"Edelstein..." He muttered, then got up to leave, pulling the knife out of the door as he passed it.

* * *

The buildings of Edelstein were damaged and in need of repair, the road was uneven, and there was a large hole in what looked like a sewage pipe. Ew.

The residents however, looked friendly. They conversed with each other with smiles on their faces. Some people were sweeping up leaves that had fallen to the ground. Children were running around, playing tag and laughing.

Until they saw us. Everyone froze in their tracks, looking at us like we were aliens. As we walked, they inched away, uncertainty written all over their faces. We approached a dude in a bear costume, who was holding a bunch of balloons, all the children having hidden behind him.

"Welcome to Edelstein." He said to us when we got close enough. "I guess." He added.

"Awesome!" I grinned, grabbing his hand. "I'm shaking hands with a bear!"

"Right.." He said after I let go. "My name is Chet Kyrone. But in the suit, everyone calls me Checky. I'm the mascot and entertainer for this town."

"Pleasure to meet you." Desmond said, walking up to him and shaking his hand...paw...too. "Although, it does beg the question; why does the town need an entertainer?"

"Well.." He started, when a horn blared in the distance. "Tch, I guess you're all about to find out."


End file.
